Manohar Lal Khattar Government Wins Trust Vote in Haryana Assembly

The Congress-led Opposition on Wednesday, 10 March, moved a no-confidence motion against the the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janata Party government led by Manohar Lal Khattar.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janata Party government led by Manohar Lal Khattar won the trust vote in the Haryana Assembly against the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition on Wednesday, 10 March.

The motion was supported by 32 members and opposed by 55 members.

The motion was moved by Leader of Opposition BS Hooda earlier in the day over the government’s stand on the three contentious farm laws of the Centre.

While the Congress-led Opposition had been slamming the government through the day in the Assembly for its alleged failures to address farmers’ issues over the three contentious farm laws, CM Khattar in his address accused the Congress of spreading mistrust and having “no confidence” in any institution when it’s in the Opposition.

What State Govt Said on the No-Confidence Motion

Attacking the Congress in the Assembly, Khattar accused the Opposition of resorting to ‘criticism for the sake of criticism.’

“Mistrust culture is an old Congress tradition. Though this mistrust can be seen within the party, with PC Chacko leaving the party. Sometimes it's G23 or mistrust between Surjewala or Hooda sahab in the state,” Khattar said.

“’No Confidence’ is Congress’ culture. When the party loses polls, there’s no confidence in EVMs. It asked for evidence after the surgical strikes. Criticism for sake of criticism should not be done. If the Congress is in power, all is well, but if it’s the BJP, then nothing is,” he added.

Speaking to the media earlier, JJP leader and Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala attacked the Congress and said that contract farming was introduced by Hooda in 2014.

“The Leader of Opposition (BS Hooda) agreed that they introduced contract farming in 2014 which exhibits their double standards and we will respond to that in the Assembly,” Chautala said.

What Opposition Said

Soon after the trust vote, Leader of Opposition BS Hooda said, had the trust vote been a secret one as the party had requested, the government would not have won it.

“The government is exposed. I had said earlier that they will get a majority as they had issued a whip. I had urged the Speaker for secret voting but it didn't happen. Had there been secret voting, results would have been different. Still, our numbers rose from 30 to 32,” Hooda said, as quoted by ANI.

“They couldn’t give us satisfactory answers. the government has already lost in democracy. We shall keep raising voices for the people and fight for them. We aren’t leading anyone but we want the government to talk to the farmers soon and find a solution. The farmers’ agitation has continued for a long time,” he added.

Earlier in the Assembly, Hooda described the government as a minority. He said that in the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP failed to get majority and it had to form the government with the support of the JJP (Jannayak Janta Party), which sought votes against the BJP.

Referring to CM Khattar as Nero, Hooda said, “The chief minister is behaving like Nero when Rome was burning. The same thing is happening in Haryana.”

“The situation was bad to the extent that Khattar could not go to Panipat to unfurl the Tricolour on Republic Day and instead went to neighbouring Panchkula to escape farmers’ wrath,” Hooda said, as quoted by IANS.

He had demanded secret voting on the no-confidence motion, which was rejected by Speaker Gian Chand Gupta.

Opposition’s Plan

Political observers told IANS that the no-trust motion was 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 for not walking out of the alliance on the issue of farmers and ‘clinging to power’.

Speaking to PTI ahead of the Assembly session, Hooda had said: “The no-confidence motion will let people know which MLA stands with the government and which MLA stands with the farmers.”On being asked about the Opposition not having enough numbers on their side, Hooda had said: "But that does not mean Opposition will not play its role."

(With inputs from ANI, PTI and IANS.)