WILL BACK CONGRESS IF IT WANTS TO TOPPLE SAINI GOVERNMENT: DUSHYANT CHAUTALA

HISAR/SIRSA: BJP's estranged ally JJP is ready to support Congress-led opposition's bid to topple the Nayab Singh Saini govt in Haryana, former deputy CM Dushyant Chautala declared on Wednesday, simultaneously firing a warning to his MLA colleagues that defying a whip to side with the saffron party would invite disqualification.

Chautala's statement came a day after three Independent MLAs withdrew support from the BJP-led coalition, reducing its strength to 43 in what is effectively an 88-member assembly after the resignations last March by ex-CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Independent MLA Ranjit Singh Chautala.

Saini insisted there was no threat to his govt despite the coalition now being two short of a majority and that it would complete its tenure without a hitch. “We weren't a minority govt earlier and are not a minority now,” he said in Sirsa.

Haryana is due for state elections in Oct. Although the BJP govt technically appears safe for now, three Independents withdrawing support could affect the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha poll. The state will vote in the fifth phase on May 25, with BJP facing the challenge of retaining all 10 seats it won in 2019.

Dushyant, JJP's national senior vice-president, told reporters at his residence in Hisar that the party would write to the governor to ask the BJP govt to take a floor test to prove its majority. The rulebook stipulates that a no-confidence motion can't be moved against any govt within six months of the previous one, which in Haryana's case was in Feb.

But Dushyant said CM Saini should either prove his majority in the assembly or immediately resign.

The three Independents who withdrew support to the govt — Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Singh Gollen (Pundri) and Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri) — said at a presser on Tuesday that they would back Congress, which has 30 MLAs in the House.

Dushyant said JJP MLAs violating the party's whip risk facing the same treatment some rebel Congress legislators in Himachal Pradesh some time ago for turning against their party in the Rajya Sabha election.

He said JJP had already issued notices to three MLAs for sharing the stage with rival parties. One of them could be JJP's Narwana MLA Ramniwas Surjakhera, who backed BJP's Sirsa candidate Ashok Tanwar at the saffron party's rally in his constituency on Wednesday. CM Saini led the campaign.

The JJP MLA previously attended a rally by former CM Khattar, who is BJP's nominee for the Karnal seat.

Khattar downplayed the withdrawal of support by three Independent MLAs, saying at roadshows in Nilokheri and Indri that such things were par for the course in politics.

“It's election time, someone will join the party while someone will quit. It doesn't matter. Many MLAs are in contact with us. Hence, there's nothing to stress about,” he said.