Panic in Haryana’s BJP-JJP govt as pressure grows within for action on farm laws

Six of JJP’s 10 MLAs and some Independents have given a virtual ultimatum to the parties to urge the central govt to resolve the farmers issue at the earliest.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar arrives at Ministry of Home Affairs to meet Union Minister Amit Shah on 12 January 2021 | Twitter/ ANI

Chandigarh: Haryana’s ruling alliance partners, the BJP and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), seem to have hit the panic button as the continuing farmers’ protest stokes disgruntlement in the coalition, with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his deputy, Dushyant Chautala, holding a series of meetings over the past 24 hours to keep their flock together. 

Over the past two days, six of the JJP’s 10 MLAs and some Independents have given a virtual ultimatum to the parties to get in touch with the central government — led by the BJP — and urged them to resolve the farmers issue at the earliest. 

This has raised a question mark over the stability of the Haryana government. Haryana has an assembly of 90 MLAs. The BJP holds office in the state with the help of 10 JJP MLAs and four Independents. A fifth Independent MLA walked out of the alliance in light of the farmers’ protest last month.  

Chautala and Khattar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday evening, while the deputy CM met Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday. Ahead of his meeting with Shah, Chautala had met his MLAs in New Delhi Tuesday afternoon. Two MLAs who have expressed support for the farmers protest — Ram Kumar Gautam and Ishwar Singh — absented themselves from the meeting. 

Earlier in the day, Khattar held a meeting of the four Independent MLAs supporting the government. The meeting was held at the residence of state Power Minister Ranjeet Chautala, one of the four Independents. 

While Khattar denies the government’s stability is in peril, the chaos, it is learnt, is being seen by the opposition as an opportunity to upstage the government.

Under pressure

After the meeting with Shah, Khattar told the media that their discussions did revolve around the farmers agitation but “in the context of its impact on the law and order situation in Haryana”. Khattar added that his government was not under threat at all and will last its complete five-year term.

However, Chautala is said to be under tremendous pressure with six MLAs of his party making it clear to him that if the farmers’ issues are not resolved soon, it can lead to a “major loss”.

Speaking about their party meeting, Barwala MLA Jogi Ram Sihag said “everyone agreed that farmers are the lifeline of this country and nothing should be done to harm their interest”. 

“While everyone forwarded their viewpoints, most of those attending the meeting felt that we should support the farmers in their demand for a repeal of the acts. I have been individually doing it but now many others are also supporting this view,” he added. 

Julana MLA Amarjeet Dhanda said Chautala was told that the protesting farmers have been sitting out in the open, in the winter, for almost a month and a half, and that several lives have already been lost.

“There is an urgency to the situation. And we pressed him to talk to the Centre and get the matter resolved at the earliest. Whether it is repeal or amendment, the decision should be acceptable to the farmers,” he told The Print.

Gautam, one of the MLAs who skipped the meeting, told ThePrint that the three farm laws need to be repealed immediately. “I was not even called for the meeting. I made my stand about the farmers issue very clear. The three Acts should be immediately repealed,” he said.

Independents getting restless 

Resentment has been brewing among the BJP-JJP coalition’s Independent allies too. One Independent MLA, Sombir Sangwanm who represents Dadri, has already withdrawn support from the government over the farmers’ agitation. Three others — Dharam Pal Gonder (Nilokheri) and Randhir Gollen (Pundri) — have also expressed support for the farmers.

Speaking about their meeting with the CM, Gollen said, “During the meeting, the chief minister was told that he should take up the matter of the farmers with the central leadership.”

Khattar also allegedly faced the wrath of protesting farmers in his constituency, Karnal, where the venue of a “kisan mahapanchayat” he was supposed to preside over was vandalised Sunday.  

Khattar subsequently held a press conference saying that he had cancelled the programme because he could not land at the venue due to bad weather.

INLD looks to reclaim lost ground

Apart from its members, the ruling Haryana coalition is also under pressure from the opposition. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Abhay Chautala, the MLA from Ellenabad and the sole representative of his party in the assembly, announced Monday that he will resign from the House in case the three farm Acts are not repealed by 26 January.

The JJP, which is a breakaway faction of the INLD, shares the same vote bank of the Jat peasantry in the state. 

The INLD, which is headed by four-time Chief Minister and Dushyant Chautala’s grandfather Om Prakash Chautala, imploded in 2018 after his elder son Ajay decided to create the JJP. 

Both Chautala and Ajay are serving 10-year sentences in Tihar jail following their 2013 conviction in a government job recruitment scam.

Ajay’s sons Dushyant and Digvijay are running the JJP show in the state, while Abhay is in charge of the INLD.

The 2019 assembly election was the JJP’s first and it won 10 seats. 

‘Congress fishing in troubled waters’ 

Sources in the Congress said the party has been “trying to fish in troubled waters” and is waiting for the JJP “to implode over the farmers’ issue”. The party has 31 MLAs in the state.

So far, six of the 10 JJP MLAs have shown open support for the farmers and are expected to dig their heels in. However, for any breakaway unit to form, two-thirds — or 7 — of the MLAs will have to be on board to beat the anti-defection law.

Dushyant Chautala holds several portfolios as the Haryana Deputy Chief Minister but has shared power only with only one of his MLAs, Anoop Dhanak, who is a minister of state. A cabinet ministerial berth has not been filled by Chautala and it is widely believed that he intends to retain it as an incentive to keep the flock together.