Photo Source: Social Media X
Death of Independent MLA Rakesh Daulatabad has once again raised question over BJP Govt's majority in Haryana: HC Advocate
The number of members in the Haryana Assembly decreased to 87, 44 MLAs are required for the majority
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, May 26, 2024: Hemant Kumar, Advocate in Punjab, and Haryana High Court said due to the sudden demise of independent MLA Rakesh Daulatabad from Badshahpur Assembly seat of Gurugram district on May 25, questions are being raised over the majority of BJP government in the state.
Kumar stated that the number of members of the current Haryana Legislative Assembly has decreased by one to 87.
"The total number of members of the 90-member Haryana Assembly had first decreased by one to 89 on March 13 when former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar resigned from the post of MLA from Karnal Assembly seat the very next day after stepping down from the post of Chief Minister, which was accepted by the Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta from the same day. One and a half months later, on April 30, the Speaker accepted the resignation of Ranjit Chautala, who was an independent MLA from Rania seat of Sirsa district, who is still the Power and Jail Minister in the current Naib Saini government, from the post of MLA with effect from March 24, since Ranjit had joined the BJP on March 24. However, this reduced the number of members of the House by one more to 88. In the 18th Lok Sabha general election, Manohar Lal is the BJP candidate from Karnal Lok Sabha seat and Ranjit Singh is the BJP candidate from Hisar Lok Sabha seat. Now after the death of independent Rakesh Daulatabad on May 25, the number of members in the present Haryana Legislative Assembly has decreased by one from 88 to 87, due to which the majority figure in the House has decreased from 45 to 44 as of today," said Hemant Kumar.
Hemant said that two and a half months ago on March 12, when Manohar Lal Khattar was removed and Nayab Saini was made the Chief Minister of the state, the government had the support of the then 41 MLAs of BJP (including the Speaker), six independents and one HALOPA (Haryana Lokhit Party) MLA Gopal Kanda, i.e. a total of 48 MLAs. First, after the resignation of Manohar Lal and then Ranjit Singh, and at the beginning of this month, after three independent MLAs supporting the BJP government -- Dharam Pal Gondar from Nilokheri in Karnal, Randhir Singh Golan from Pundri in Kaithal and Sombir Sangwan from Dadri in Charkhi Dadri district -- announced the withdrawal of support from the current government (although due to some technical reasons, the Governor and Speaker are still pending to be officially informed about this), the number of MLAs supporting the Naib Saini government came down to 43, after which the Congress and JJP claimed that the BJP government of Haryana has come into minority and President's rule should be immediately imposed in the state and fresh assembly elections should be held immediately. Now, after the death of Daulatabad, one of the two independent MLAs supporting the government, on May 25, the government is left with the support of only 42 MLAs.
However, Hemant also says that on June 4, not only will the result of the by-election of Karnal assembly seat be declared in which Chief Minister Naib Saini is the BJP candidate and if he wins the election and becomes an MLA, then the number of BJP MLAs in the House will increase to 41 again, but since five MLAs of the current assembly - Varun Mulana and Rao Dan Singh from Congress, Mohanlal Badoli from BJP, Abhay Chautala from INLD and Naina Singh Chautala from JJP are also contesting the Lok Sabha MP election and if one or two or more of them win and become MPs, then they will have to leave the post of MLA within the stipulated time, after which there may be further changes in the current arithmetic of the assembly and due to this, political uncertainty will remain till then.
Meanwhile, Hemant today again said that though the figure of 42 MLAs currently supporting the Naib Saini government in the 87-member Haryana Assembly may seem like a minority at first sight, whether it is a minority can be proved only during voting in the House because despite the party whip being issued in the voting during the confidence motion or the no-confidence motion brought by the opposition in the House and despite the threat of disqualification from the membership of the House under the anti-defection law, the MLAs of the opposition party can not only remain absent from the House but can also cross vote against their party. A few days ago, former Chief Minister Manohar Lal had stated that some MLAs of JJP and Congress were in touch with him. Recently, their party JJP filed a petition before the Speaker under the anti-defection law against two JJP MLAs - Jogiram Sihag and Ram Niwas because they were supporting the BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha general elections.
Hemant added that although there are 40 BJP members (MLAs) in the current Haryana Assembly, constitutionally, primarily only 39 BJP MLAs can vote in favor of the Nayab Saini government (if there is a confidence motion) and against it (if there is a no-confidence motion) because according to Article 189 (1) of the Indian Constitution, the Assembly Speaker can give his deciding vote (casting vote) only in the event of a tie on any motion in the House. Similarly, if Chief Minister Nayab Saini wins the Karnal Assembly by-election on June 4 and becomes a BJP MLA, even then the technical number of BJP in the House will not be considered 41 but 40.