Hooda rips apart BJP-JJP govt while moving no-confidence motion in Haryana Assembly

Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda ripped apart the ruling alliance in Haryana Assembly while moving the no-confidence motion against the BJP-JJP government led by Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Terming the BJP-JJP government a minority government, Hooda reminded the BJP and the JJP leaders of the days when they faced public wrath in their respective constituencies. He said that the BJP and JJP leaders have lost their roots and that is why the public was up in arms against them.

While taking up farmers issues, Hooda equated Khattar to “Nero”, and said that the chief minister was behaving like Nero when Rome was burning. He said that a similar situation prevailed in Haryana. The situation was so bad that Khattar could not go to Panipat to unfurl the tricolour on Republic Day. He instead preferred to go to neighbouring Panchkula to escape the farmers' fury, Hooda said.

Taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Singh Chautala, Hooda accused the JJP of misleading Haryana’s youth on 75 per cent job quota in the private sector. He pointed out that the JJP, in its election manifesto, had not mentioned that jobs would be provided in private sector.

Moving the no-confidence motion, Hooda demanded inclusion of nearly 250 farmers killed during the farmers' agitation in the obituary references in Haryana Assembly.

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

Earlier in the day, Khattar said that he was confident that the no-confidence motion against the government would be defeated in the Assembly. Chautala claimed that the coalition government will continue to run for the next four years without any fear.

Earlier, the motion of no-confidence against the BJP-JJP government was taken up in the Assembly with Speaker Gian Chand Gupta reserving a two-hour discussion on it.

The Speaker admitted the notice of no-confidence motion against the Council of Ministers after the end of the Question Hour.

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, currently having an effective strength of 88 members, the ruling BJP has 40 members, the JJP 10 and the Congress 30. Seven MLAs are Independent, five of whom are supporting the government, while one member from Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), who has also extended support to the government.