BJP candidate from Hisar Lok Sabha seat Ranjit Singh Chautala continues to be in talks ahead of parliamentary elections. Firstly-he landed into controversy after he made controversial remarks about the Brahmin community and then Ranjit Singh himself attended the meeting called by the Brahmin community in Hisar and apologized regarding the statement given by him. Secondly, despite resigning from the membership of the assembly, he kept the ministerial position which led to political speculations as well as discussions. Both of the aforementioned aspects associated with Ranjit Singh are being discussed extensively in the politics of the state. In continuation to aforesaid, it is pertinent to mention that after the second term of BJP in Haryana, three sitting MLAs from different parties resigned from the membership of the Assembly due to different reasons. The resignation of 3 MLAs Manohar Lal, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Abhay Chautala was accepted on the same day while Ranjeet Chautala’s is yet to be accepted after passing of around a week. In September 2020, Shri Krishna Hooda, who was the MLA from Baroda constituency, died and due to this, bypolls had to be held on the seat.
It is evident from the political history of Haryana that remaining a minister after resigning from legislature is the only example in the history of the Legislative Assembly in the state. Technically, there is a clear difference between non-MLA and former MLA in the Haryana Assembly, according to which, Ranjit Singh Chautala can remain a minister despite not being an MLA, but due to no such previous history in the state, there is constant pressure on him to resign, which is being discussed extensively in the political spheres.
Haryana Cabinet Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, who was sworn in as such earlier this month on 12 March in Nayab Singh Saini led BJP’s new dispensation in the State and has recently on 22 March allocated portfolios of Energy and Jails joined the BJP this past Sunday on 24 March and within couple of hours, he got declared as saffron party’s candidate from Hisar Parliamentary Constituency due to which many stalwarts of BJP and leaders claiming ticket from Hisar suffered setback. Ranjit Singh has resigned from the post of MLA after being given ticket from Hisar by BJP. However, he still remains a minister. As per rules, even without being an MLA, he can remain on the post of minister for 6 months. However, no one has given any official information regarding his resignation. Regarding this, Ranjit Singh has said that he works within the ambit of law and even at present he is a minister.
In continuation to aforesaid, in Haryana, three by-elections have been held in 2019 after the resignation and death of MLAs during the second term of the BJP government and by-election on Karnal Assembly on which a petition has also been filed in the High Court, is yet to be held next month following the schedule issued by the Election Commision of India (ECI). It is pertinent to mention that by-elections were held on Broda seat in November 2020 on the Baroda seat following the demise of then MLA Shri Krishna Hooda in September 2020, in which Congress candidate Induraj won the election. After this, INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala resigned on January 27, 2021 in protest against the three contentious agricultural laws and after this, he won the election by 6739 votes in the by-election held in November 2021. Similarly, the then Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned from the membership of assembly of MLA on 3 August 2022 alleging neglect in the party and from the vacant Adampur seat, his son Bhavya Bishnoi defeated Congress candidate JP by a margin of 15740 votes. On March 13, former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal resigned from the membership of the Karnal Legislative Assembly, vacating the seat for current CM Nayab Saini. Elections are yet to be held on this seat, however, due to a petition being filed in the High Court, the matter is sub-judice.
In this regard , an advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court and xpert in such matters , said that the date of resignation of Ranjit Chautala as MLA should be 24 March 2024, i.e. the day he formally joined BJP..As far as Ranjit Chautala’s continuation as a Cabinet Minister after his resignation from the post of MLA (which has not yet been accepted by the Assembly Speaker), legally Hemant is of the opinion that on March 12, when Ranjit Chautala took oath as Cabinet Minister, he was an MLA of the present House i.e. 14th Haryana Assembly and thus after tendering his resignation as an MLA, he, being a non-MLA, cannot continue as a Minister uninterruptedly for a maximum of six months ( Read under Article 164(4) of the Constitution of India) Since for such new innings/tenure as a Minister, he has to be administered a fresh oath of office and secrecy by the Governor. Even otherwise, the above six-month limit of being a minister as a non-MLA will start from March 24, i.e. the day Ranjit Chautala resigned from the membership of the present Haryana Assembly. The advocate reiterated that he does not remember a single instance either at the Center or in any State, where a person has resigned from the post of MP or MLA, but he continued to be a Minister in the Council of Ministers at the Center or in the State respectively. It is noteworthy that citing the negligence in the Congress, he contested the assembly election from Rania constituency successfully and despite being an independent MLA, he was given a berth in the BJP-;led government in 2019 and now has been fielded as BJP candidate on Hisar Lok Sabha seat.
