Congress' no-confidence motion against the Manohar Lal Khattar-led NDA government in Haryana has been defeated.
The motion received only 31 votes in favour and 55 votes against it. The Opposition required 45 votes to win the motion.
While replying to the no-confidence motion, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that criticism makes him better. "We know that we will not win the confidence of the Opposition but we will take this opportunity to win the confidence of the masses," he said.
Attacking the Opposition, especially Congress for "never showing the confidence in any development work done by the government", Khattar said, "The Opposition has been out of power for long that they are now seeing a mirage in the desert, but what they'll receive is just sand."
Earlier in the day, Haryana Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda moved a no-confidence motion in the state assembly against the Khatter-led state government.
In the assembly, Hooda commented on the ongoing farmers' protests and said: "More than 250 farmers died on the border." "Farmers are protesting as the government did not fulfil their poll promises. JJP promised MSP and 10 per cent bonus. BJP promised that farmers’ income will be doubled. The production cost of crops is rising the MSP is not even able to meet the cost of production," he added.
Senior Congress leader Raghuvir Singh Kadian said the no-confidence motion will make it clear who stands with farmers and who is against them.
"Entry boards have been put up outside villages banning entry of BJP and JJP leaders while Khap Panchayats have given social boycott calls. Never before in history has it happened before that the chief minister and deputy CM's helicopters are not being allowed to land in villages," said Kadian. "Farmers are sitting on borders, but the government is not inviting them for talks," he alleged
For the uninitiated, the current strength of the 90-member Assembly is 88 with the resignation of INLD's Abhay Chautala and disqualification of Congress' Pradeep Chaudhary after he was sentenced to three-year imprisonment. Currently, BJP has 40 MLAs, and its alliance partner Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) has 10. Five independent MLAs are also supporting the BJP-led state government. The NDA government required the support of 45 members to prove their majority.
