Agriculture is a state subject, Bhupinder Singh Hooda reminded while speaking of the farm laws.
Chandigarh:
The Congress today moved a no-confidence motion against the Haryana government, contending it has lost the support of the people, citing as evidence the incident where the chopper of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was not allowed to land by protesting farmers. The BJP-led government in Haryana was the only one which had used force to stop farmers from exercising their fundamental right to protest, said former Chief Minister Congress’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The no-confidence motion is seen as a plan to embarrass the government amid widespread anger over the Centre’s new farm laws. The BJP – which has an alliance with Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party – has claimed that there is no threat to the government.
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The Chief Minister could not hoist flag on in Panipat on January 26 and hence hosted it in Panchkula, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, adding “When Rome was burning, Nero was fiddling”. “The moment I speak of farm laws, they (the government) says it is Central laws… but agriculture is a state subject,” he added.
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The BJP demanded that the Congress prove that force was used on farmers. Party MLA and cabinet minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar said, “Share proof of lathicharge… If we have named any farmer as Khalistani and Pakistani, then do share the names of such leaders”.
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Senior Congress leader Raghuvir Singh Kadian said this 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 Mr Kadian.
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Mr Kadian said MLAs of the BJP-ally JJP, which had contested the 2019 assembly polls against the BJP before forging alliance with it, should examine their conscience and support the no-confidence motion. “Chaudhary Devi Lal dedicated his entire life for farmers” cause. The JJP leaders should look in their inner conscience before voting,” he said. Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala should withdraw support from the government and stand with farmers, he added.
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Senior JJP leader Ishwar Singh said the government has taken several steps for welfare of farmers and brought many schemes for them. Taking a dig at Congress leaders, he said they were portraying themselves “as if they were the only sympathisers” of farmers.
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The BJP has 40 seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly. It also has the support of 10 JJP MLAs ad five independent legislators. The Congress has 31 seats. Two seats in the assembly are vacant and the majority mark stands at 45.
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Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said there is no threat to the government. “You will get to know the moment you step into the assembly. We have full confidence that the opposition motion will be defeated,” Mr Khattar said this morning, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala at his side.
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The Congress motion is likely to pile pressure on the JJP, which has a sizeable support base among farmers. The Congress has been claiming that the no-confidence motion will reveal to the people which MLAs do not support the farmers’ cause. Members of the JJP have admitted that they are being boycotted by farmers in their constituencies.
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In November, when the farmers started their march to Delhi, the Manohar Lal Khattar government had started a crackdown. The police had dug trenches on the road and countered the protesting farmers with batons, tear gas and water cannons.
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The farmers are protesting against three laws that they fear will take away the Minimum Support Prices offered by the government and leave them open to manipulation by corporates. Though the Centre has repeatedly denied this, the farmers want the laws struck off.