The win of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janata Party government in Haryana Assembly floor test on Wednesday has attracted the ire of farmer leaders, The Indian Express reported. Farmer representatives said this would not affect their movement, but instead only drive them to push back more. The motion was moved by Congress on Wednesday in the Haryana Assembly amid widespread anger over the new agricultural laws.
Haryana Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Gurnam Singh Charuni said the failure of the no-confidence motion will lead to increased hate for the BJP and its allies. “We appeal [to] the public to not vote for those legislators who did not vote in favour of the farmers and labourers in Haryana Vidhan Sabha today [Wednesday],” he said, according to the newspaper. “They should be boycotted everywhere and they should not be allowed to enter the villages.”
He said their protests would continue, adding that Wednesday’s developments would have a negative impact on Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala for his support of the state government.
In a video message, posted on Facebook, Charuni said farmers had given memorandums to the MLAs on Tuesday, adding that this was the only time that the voters asked for votes from the politicians.
“Since Independence, they [political leaders] have been seeking votes from us to become MLAs, and we have been giving votes to them,” he said. “To protect the people from starvation and to ensure economic independence of the country, we had sought votes only once. But they did not give votes in support of the public. They have voted in support of capitalism. You have to keep in mind that those who are not yours, you too don’t support them in future. Now, nobody should invite them.”
Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav said the BJP-JJP government’s victory will not have a negative impact on the farmers’ movement, but will add to their anger and their resolve to continue.
“Basically, the MLAs had a very clear choice today,” Yadav told The Indian Express. “They had to choose between kursi [position] and kisaan [farmers]. Clearly, they [BJP-JJP and their allies] chose the kursi. I am sure that kisaan of Haryana shall never forget their betrayal, especially by those whom they had chosen and who had even vowed to work in their interest.”
A former Indian Administrative Services officer from Haryana, SK Goyal, who has campaigned against the three farm laws in villages, said that Chautala’s grandfather Chaudhary Devi Lal was known as a “messiah of farmers”. “His grandson Dushyant Chautala was being seen as a leader of the future,” he said, according to The Indian Express. “The youths had a lot of aspirations from him. The farmers had given a mandate to Dushyant Chautala-led JJP in at least 10 Vidhan Sabha seats in the 2019 Assembly polls.”
Goyal said that Chautala had disappointed the youth and farmers now.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader in Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the state administration may have won the no-confidence motion against it but it had “fallen in the eyes of the people”. “Even though the Congress had limited strength in the House, we stood with the farmers firmly in the House and performed our responsibility,” he added, according to PTI. “We voted against the government which lathi-charged farmers, fired tear gas shells, used water cannons during the peak winter and implicated them in false cases.”
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Haryana: Congress’ no-confidence motion defeated by 55-32 margin, Manohar Khattar government stays
Haryana non-confidence motion
The Congress’ no-confidence motion against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jannayak Janata Party-led government of Haryana was defeated in the state Assembly on Wednesday afternoon by a 55-32 margin.
All MLAs of the Congress voted for the motion, while those belonging to the ruling BJP-JJP combine voted against it. However, JJP legislators Ram Kumar Gautam and Devender Babli criticised the government during the discussion on the motion. Babli took exception after the Speaker informed him that his name was not on the list of those allowed to speak.
Among Independent MLAs, Balraj Kundu from Meham and Sombir Sangwan from Charkhi Dadri spoke for the motion, but the numbers suggest that only one of them voted for it, as the Congress itself has 31 MLAs in the Assembly. In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party has 40 seats, along with the support of 10 JJP MLAs and five Independent legislators. The Congress has 31 seats. Two seats in the Assembly are vacant and the majority mark is 45.
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