A day after the Congress and Janata Party (JJP) stepped up efforts to oust the BJP government in Haryana, they wrote to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, a former minister representing Tohana JJP MLAs led by Devender Babli said they will replace Dushyant Chautala as Haryana BJP MLA. Legislature party leaders and party interests require. The development is significant given the opposition’s demand for a parliamentary session to table a no-confidence motion.
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Babli said Dushyant had written to Dattatreya requesting a field test on behalf of the JJP MLA. “When eight out of the 10 legislators of the JJP are against Dushyant, how can he write to the governor without meeting them?” Babli said.
“Dushyant has only the support of his mother Badhra MLA Naina Chautala. The rest of the MLAs are in favor of replacing him. He should resign as the leader of the party in the legislature, otherwise other MLAs MPs will sack him. We have the support of eight MLAs, who supported the BJP and ruled for four-and-a-half years after the 2019 Assembly polls, and now he wants to. Toppling the BJP government. How has his mindset changed? Now he supports the Congress, which he once called his biggest enemy,” Babli said.
Rebels are about to meet
Sources close to rebel JJP MLAs said they will meet soon to challenge Dushyte’s leadership. Three JJP MLAs held a meeting with former chief minister and Karnal Janata Party Lok Sabha candidate Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday to discuss the issue, they said. “The rebel MLAs believe they will follow the path of former deputy CM Devi Lal and continue to lead the party after taking over the party,” sources said.
Rebellious BJP MLAs say they will decide whether to support the BJP government or vote against it when a no-confidence motion is tabled in Parliament.
“Before the Lok Sabha test, we will change the legislative party leader. We will decide who to support when the no-confidence motion is moved,” said another rebel JJP MLA, requesting anonymity.
Among the 10 JJP MLAs, Babli, Barwala legislator Jogi Ram Sihag, Narnaund MLA Ram Kumar Gautam and Narwana MLA Ram Niwas Surjakhera are leading the rebellion and are in touch with the BJP leadership. However, Dushyant still got Julana MLA Amarjeet Dhanda, Ukrana Mla Anoop Dhanda who is undergoing treatment at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon Supported by Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak and his mother Naina Chautala. Family members of two other MLAs, Ram Karan Kala and Ishwar Singh, have joined the Congress.
“Janayak to Harnayak”
Babli alleged that Dushyant has become a “khalnayak (villain)” and his family has made JJP a “private limited company”. “The party used the term Jannayak of Devi Lal but Dushyant has turned into Khalnayak. Due to his arrogance and dictatorship, eight JJP MLAs and the people of Haryana turned against him. Whenever we attend other party leaders’ organizations He would question us at any social event. After becoming deputy chief minister, he distanced himself from the party MLAs. We were elected by the voters, not the bonded laborers Dushyant and his father. JJP president Ajay Chautala used harsh language against us in public but they could not silence our voices,” Babli said.
JJP general secretary Digvijay Singh Chautala said in an interview that the claims that party legislators are siding with Dushyyan are false and baseless.
There are two seats vacant in the 90-member parliament and Karnal will hold a by-election on May 25.
The BJP has 40 members and is backed by two independents – Nayan Pal Rawat from Pritra and Rakesh Daulatabad from Badshapur – and Gopal Kanda of Haryana BJP. This brings the number of seats in parliament to 43, two seats short of the current majority of 45 in the 88-seat parliament.
The Congress has 30 members, including 10 from the JJP and 1 from the Indian National Party (INLD). In addition, Balraj Kundu, an independent MP from Meham, also opposed the government.