'Impose President's Rule in Haryana if...': JJP's Dushyant Chautala writes to Governor

Former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala on Wednesday wrote to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and urged him to call for a floor test immediately. He requested the Governor to ask the government to prove its majority in the House and impose President's Rule if it fails to do so.

"Given the developments and the clear stance of the party, i.e., JJP, which does not extend its support to the present government and is open to backing any other political party for government formation, it is evident that the incumbent government no longer commands a majority in the legislative assembly," the letter reads.

The Nayab Singh Saini government plunged into crisis earlier this week after three Independent MLAs withdrew support from the BJP. The JJP, BJP's former ally in the state, said on Wednesday that it was ready to help the Congress bring down the BJP government in Haryana. He claimed that the BJP government was reduced to a minority. 

The Congress, on its part, demanded the imposition of the President's rule and early assembly elections in Haryana. However, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini asserted that his government was not in any trouble. His predecessor and party colleague M L Khattar also claimed that many MLAs are in touch with the BJP and there is "nothing to worry ". 

Independent MLAs Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Singh Gollen (Pundri), and Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri) withdrew support to the ruling BJP in Haryana on Tuesday and announced that they would back the Congress. 

The 90-member Haryana assembly at present has an effective strength of 88 with Karnal and Rania assembly seats being vacant. The BJP has 40 MLAs, the Congress 30, and the JJP 10 in the House. INLD and Haryana Lokhit Party has one member. Independents are six. The government has the support of two of the Independent legislators. Independent MLA Nayan Pal Rawat said he had given unconditional support to the BJP in 2019 and it is continuing even now. 

The assembly elections in Haryana are due in October while the Karnal Assembly bypoll is scheduled for May 25 along with voting to the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. Saini, the MP from Kurukshetra in the outgoing Lok Sabha, is the BJP candidate for the bypolls and if he wins, the party's strength in the Assembly will rise to 41.

(With inputs from PTI)