Is the BJP government in Haryana in trouble after 3 Independents switched sides?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana witnessed a setback on Tuesday (7 May) after three Independent MLAs withdrew their support and shifted their allegiance to its rival Congress. The Grand Old Party said that the Nayab Singh Saini government is now in the minority and demanded the chief minister’s resignation.

The development comes just two weeks before the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana. The Assembly elections in the state are also slated for later this year.

Will the BJP government in Haryana survive? Let’s take a closer look.

What happened?

Three Independent MLAs – Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Gollen (Pundri) and Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri) – said they have decided to switch their support from the BJP to the Congress.

They made the announcement at a press conference in Rohtak in the presence of former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress president Udai Bhan. The MLAs said they had informed the governor about their decision, reported ThePrint.

Explaining why he shifted his support from the BJP to Congress, Golan, as per Indian Express, said, “We kept supporting the BJP government honestly over the past four-and-a-half years. But today, inflation and unemployment have touched new heights, while farmers, labourers, traders, employees… everyone… is upset because of the concept of family ID and property ID.”

Saini’s predecessor, the former BJP CM Manohar Lal Khattar, had introduced one ID card for families to avail government benefits.

Golan said their move should not be seen as “opportunism”, adding that it was “a reflection of the public’s voice”, reported the Indian Express newspaper.

Gondher, the other Independent MLA to shift sides, told the media that he, Golan, Sangwan and another Independent MLA, Nayan Pal Rawat, had decided to extend support to the BJP while Khattar was the CM. “When our Senapati (Khattar) went away, it hurt us,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Congress, JJP react

The Congress is calling for CM Saini’s resignation and the imposition of President’s rule in Haryana.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, also demanded early elections.

“After the withdrawal of support by the three MLAs, the Nayab Singh Saini government has lost the moral authority to remain in power. The governor should immediately dismiss the government and impose President’s rule besides ordering early elections to the state Assembly to respect the people’s mandate,” he told ThePrint.

Addressing the presser, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan said the BJP government has lost the majority in the state Assembly. He said the Assembly elections in Haryana should be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls in the state on 25 May, reported Indian Express.

“Nayab Singh Saini government is now a minority government. Saini should tender his resignation as he does not have the right to stay even for a minute,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), whose alliance with the BJP collapsed in March over seat-sharing, has also commented on the development.

On Wednesday (8 May), JJP leader Dushyant Chautala reportedly said he would “support Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda” if the former Congress CM initiates a move to topple the BJP government.

“The BJP is talking of winning all 10 Lok Sabha seats and one seat of Karnal bypoll. But three MLAs withdrawing support shows how weak the BJP has become. I would also like to tell the Leader of Opposition that according to the mathematics of numbers today, if a step is taken to topple this government during elections, I would thoroughly consider supporting him [Hooda] from outside. It is now for Congress to think if it will take a step to topple the BJP government,” Chautala said, as per Indian Express.

JJP leader Digvijay Singh Chautala said Hooda should begin the process to “bring down the government which has lost the trust of people”. He also said the Leader of the Opposition should meet Governor Bandaru Dattatraya and apprise him of the situation, as per the PTI report.

BJP in defensive mode

Haryana CM Saini has said that his government is not in trouble and is “working strongly”, reported PTI.

He also blamed the Congress for the development. “Some MLAs have their desires… Congress is fulfilling (the) desires (of such people), but people know everything. Congress is not concerned about the desires of people, but only about itself," Saini told the news agency.

VIDEO | "I have received this information. Some MLAs have their desires... Congress is fulfilling the desires, but people know everything. Congress is not concerned about the desires of people, but only about itself," says Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini (@NayabSainiBJP) as three… pic.twitter.com/pmWwmF5oz1

How the numbers stack up

In the 2019 Haryana Assembly polls, the BJP won 40 out of the total 90 seats in the House, Congress 31, JJP 10, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) one seat each, and Independents seven.

After Congress’ Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as an MLA to join the BJP and his son Bhavya won from Adampur on a saffron party ticket, the BJP’s tally rose to 41. The Congress’ count came down to 30.

Until 12 March, the Khattar government had the support of 41 BJP MLAs, 10 JJP MLAs, six Independents and one HLP MLA, noted ThePrint.

After Khattar stepped down as Haryana CM and Saini replaced him in March, the government was backed by 47 MLAs – 40 from the BJP, six Independents, and HLP’s Gopal Kanda. It was at this time that the BJP-JJP alliance fell apart.

Khattar also resigned as a member of the state assembly and was given a ticket by the BJP to contest from the Karnal Lok Sabha seat.

Nayab Singh Saini succeeded Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana CM in March. PTI File Photo

Later, Independent MLA Ranjit Singh also resigned and was fielded by the BJP from the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency. Following the developments, the Haryana government was left with the support of 46 members in the House which now had the strength of 88.

After three Independent MLAs crossed sides on Tuesday, the Saini government has the support of 43 MLAs — BJP 40, two Independents, and one HLP. Now, it is two short of the majority mark of 45 in the current 88-member House.

However, the BJP claims it has the majority mark.

Parveen Attrey, media secretary to the Haryana government, has said the Saini government still enjoys the support of 47 MLAs, including four MLAs from the BJP’s erstwhile ally JJP.

“We have 40 MLAs of our own, and we have the support of the Haryana Lokhit Party’s Gopal Kanda, two Independents Rakesh Daulatabad (Badshahpur) and Nayan Pal Rawat (Prithla) and four JJP MLAs, Devender Babli (Tohana), Jogi Ram Sihag (Barwala), Ram Kumar Gautam (Narnaund) and Ram Niwas Surjakhera (Narwana),” Attrey told ThePrint.

Whether the BJP government in Haryana survives this crisis is a question only time will tell. Till then, we will have to wait and watch.

With inputs from agencies