Amid the ongoing farmers’ stir against the three central agriculture laws, the BJP-JJP combine ruling in Haryana and the main opposition Congress have issued whip for the no-confidence motion of the latter in the state Legislative Assembly against an ‘anti-farmer’ government on Wednesday.
Even protesting farm union leaders have urged the people and legislators, especially the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), to lobby their representatives in the assembly to support the motion.
Leader of Opposition and two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda said the no-confidence motion would help clearing the picture that “who are support the cause of farmers and who are not”.
Hooda said the no-confidence motion was required as the government has lost public confidence and taking anti-people decisions.
The motion was moved by Hooda and signed by 23 Congress MLAs. It was approved by Speaker Gian Chand Gupta on March 5 for discussion.
Political observers told IANS that the no-trust motion is a calculated move to embarrass the JJP, the crucial post-electoral coalition partner with the BJP-led government, which is supporting the saffron party despite claiming to be an outfit of a rural Jat-centric party with the farmers as its core vote bank.
The JJP has also been facing criticism within the party too for not walking out of the alliance on the issue of farmers and ‘clinging to power’.
In an alliance, the JJP had extended support to the BJP, which won 40 seats in the Assembly polls in 2019, six short of the majority mark.
Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Gurnam Singh Charuni said the no-confidence motion against the government was crucial.
In a video message, he said: “Residents of the state should protest in front of the residences of legislators, who have been supporting the state government. They should warn the leaders that they would face social and political boycott if they continued to support the laws.”
However, a confident Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told the media that “it is for the Congress to keep its flock together as there is no threat to his government”.
The current strength of the 90-member assembly is 88 members with the resignation of INLD’s Abhay Chautala and disqualification of Congress’ Pradeep Chaudhary after he was sentenced to three-year imprisonment.
The BJP-JJP alliance has a majority with 50 legislators.