Gurugram: When three Independent MLAs in Haryana withdrew their support to the BJP and extended their allegiance to the Congress on 7 May, the Nayab Singh Saini government lost the majority required to continue to rule in a parliamentary democracy.
Over a month has passed, and the BJP government is still short of a majority, though the number of MLAs supporting or opposing the government kept changing due to various circumstances.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh last week, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Nayab Singh Saini has lost the moral authority to stay in power and demanded his resignation. He also called for President’s Rule in the state.
However, when media persons asked Saini to comment on this demand Thursday, the CM mocked Hooda and said he should first bring together his MLAs and those of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and then ask him (Saini) to prove his majority.
The Haryana assembly has a total strength of 90 MLAs. However, Badshahpur seat in Gurugram district fell vacant due to Independent MLA Rakesh Daultabad’s death on 25 May, the day of polling in Haryana. Meanwhile, Ranjit Singh, an Independent MLA from Rania (Sirsa), resigned and was announced as the BJP candidate from Hisar, and Varun Chaudhary, a Congress MLA from Mullana (Ambala), resigned after his election to Lok Sabha from Ambala Parliamentary constituency. This puts the effective strength of the House at 87.
The BJP has 41 MLAs in the House. The ruling party has the support of Haryana Lokhit Party MLA from Sirsa, Gopal Kanda, and Independent MLA from Prithla, Nayan Pal Rawat.
Against this, the Congress has 29 MLAs, JJP has 10, and INLD 1. The Congress has the support of three Independents, and Meham MLA Balraj Kundu, though not supporting the Congress, is opposed to the ruling BJP. Former deputy CM Dushyant Chautala has already announced his party’s support to the Congress if the party forms government after defeating Nayab Saini’s government on the floor of the House.
So why, despite his government having a strength of 43 MLAs in a 90-member House with an effective strength of 87, is CM Nayab Singh Saini confident of sailing through the three months left before the assembly polls in Haryana?
Contacted by The Print, Hooda said, “Our party submitted a letter to the governor last month demanding the summoning of a special session of the state assembly and asking the Nayab Saini government to prove its majority on the floor of the House. Our party will once again meet the governor with our demand,” said Hooda.
Reacting to the JJP’s offer, Hooda said Dushyant Chautala should first parade his MLAs in front of the governor before offering their support.
Here lies the catch.
Practically, Dushyant’s JJP has 10 MLAs. However, two of his MLAs — Ishwar Singh from Gulha and Ram Karan Kala from Shahbad — made their sons join Congress so they could support that party in the Lok Sabha elections without attracting the anti-defection law. Another MLA, Devender Babli from Tohana, openly supported Congress candidate Kumari Selja in Sirsa, and two more MLAs, Ram Niwas Surjakhera from Narwana and Jogi Ram Sihag from Barwala, supported the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
Surjakhera and Sihag met Saini even after the Lok Sabha results and assured their support to his government. A source in the BJP said that the two MLAs would support the government in any no-confidence motion and would not even hesitate to resign from their seats to turn the numbers in BJP’s favour. Ram Kumar Gautam, another JJP MLA from Narnaund, is a staunch detractor of Dushyant Chautala and his family.
A senior Congress leader told The Print that accepting Dushyant Chautala’s support to form the government could not have been an option even if he had his flock together.
“Dushyant Chautala’s party won 10 seats (in the 2019 assembly polls) from the constituencies dominated by the farming community by cashing in on their anti-BJP sentiments. However, immediately after the results, he joined the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in a breach of farmers’ trust. When over 700 farmers died on roads on Delhi borders, Chautala didn’t come in their support. The farmers have taught his party a lesson with just 0.87 percent votes in the Lok Sabha elections. Our party can’t align with such a party under any circumstances,” the Congress leader said.
Praveen Attrey, media secretary of the Haryana government, said the Nayab Singh Saini government enjoys a majority in the House.
“Let them bring a motion of no-confidence and we will prove the majority in the House,” said Attrey, when contacted by The Print.
How numbers fluctuated since BJP called off tie-up with JJP
After the 2019 assembly elections in Haryana, the distribution of seats was BJP 40, Congress 31, JJP 10, INLD 1, HLP 1, and Independents 7.
Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned from the Congress and his Adampur seat and joined the BJP in 2022. The seat was won by his son Bhavya Bishnoi as a BJP candidate. With this, the BJP’s count rose to 41, while Congress was reduced to 30, with the others remaining the same.
Until 12 March, the government had the support of 41 BJP MLAs, 10 JJP MLAs, six of seven Independents (the exception is Meham MLA Balraj Kundu), and HLP MLA Gopal Kanda.
On 12 March, the BJP ended its alliance with the JJP when Saini replaced Khattar as CM. On 13 March, Khattar resigned from his Karnal seat once Saini won a confidence motion in the House, reducing the effective strength of the BJP to 40.
Later, Independent MLA Ranjit Singh resigned and was announced as the BJP candidate for the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, leaving the government with support from 46 members in the effective House of 88.
However, with the withdrawal of support by three Independent MLAs on 7 May, the Nayab Singh Saini government was left with the support of 43 MLAs — BJP 40, Independents 2, and HLP 1 — leaving it two short of the majority mark in an effective House of 88.
On the day of polling, one of the two Independents supporting the Nayab Saini government, Rakesh Daultabad, died of a heart attack, reducing the effective strength of the House to 87 and bringing the number of government-supporting MLAs to 42.
However, when the Lok Sabha results came out on 4 June, Saini won the Karnal assembly bypoll and the BJP’s strength rose to 43 MLAs in the effective House of 88.
But at the same time, Congress MLA from Mullana Varun Chaudhary won the parliamentary election from Ambala and with him vacating his assembly seat, the Nayab Saini government has 43 MLAs in a House with an effective strength of 87.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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