JJP leader Dushyant Chautala announced on Wednesday that his party would vote against the BJP in a no-confidence motion, following the BJP government in Haryana losing its majority when three independent MLAs withdrew their support.
Chautala stated, “All our MLAs will vote against the BJP government, if no-confidence motion is moved by the Leader of Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda,” during a press conference.
The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a splinter group of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), holds 10 seats in the 90-seat Haryana assembly. The party had formed a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in October 2019 but parted ways in March this year.
Formerly the deputy chief minister in the alliance government, Chautala also expressed support for the Congress if they sought to bring down the government, stating, “The LoP must topple the government within the Lok Sabha polls. We have whip; all our MLAs are bound to it. They will follow the party’s decision.”
Chautala criticized Nayab Singh Saini, Khattar’s successor as CM, calling him a “weak CM.” Saini took office after Khattar resigned in March.
Responding to Chautala, senior Congress leader and former CM Bhupinder Hooda challenged the JJP to demonstrate that it was not a “B-team” of the BJP. He stated, “If they are not the B-team, they must write to the Governor immediately. We demand imposition of President’s rule and elections must be held.”
Haryana is scheduled to hold elections in October to choose its next government.
