Saini govt in 'minority', Haryana Cong tells governor; seeks dissolution of Assembly

Chandigarh: A delegation of the Haryana Congress met Governor Bandaru Dattatreya here on Thursday, claiming the Nayab Singh Saini government is in the "minority" and demanded dissolution of the Assembly and holding fresh polls.

A party delegation headed by Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda met the governor at the Raj Bhavan here in the evening and submitted a memorandum to him.

Later interacting with reporters, Hooda said, "The government does not have the moral right to stay in power... We have demanded that the House should be dissolved and fresh elections should be held." In the memorandum to Dattatreya, the opposition party claimed that if the present government lacks a majority in the House "unless it indulges in horse-trading or use of unconstitutional means".

"To stop horse trading, which will bring a bad name to the state, the assembly should be dissolved. This is what we have urged (the governor)," Hooda told reporters.

He said in the 90-member Assembly, which currently has an effective strength of 87, BJP has 41 MLAs and has the support of the lone legislator of the Haryana Lokhit Party and Independent member Nayan Pal Rawat.

"This makes it amply clear that the present government is in the minority. According to the Constitution and democratic norms, the BJP has no right to continue in the government. To avoid horse trading and ensure the survival of democracy, this minority government of the BJP should be dismissed immediately," the memorandum stated.

"We earnestly request you to discharge your constitutional obligation and dismiss this minority government immediately and impose President's rule in the state to maintain the sanctity and purity of democracy in the state.

"Fresh elections to the assembly should be held to enable people to elect a popular government in the state in accordance with law," the memorandum read.

Besides Hooda, the delegation also comprised state Congress chief Udai Bhan, Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) in Haryana Aftab Ahmed and CLP chief whip B B Batra.

On May 10, the Congress submitted a memorandum to the governor demanding the dismissal of the "minority" BJP government in the state and order fresh elections under the President's rule.

Last month, three Independent MLAs -- Sombir Sangwan, Randhir Singh Gollen and Dharampal Gonder -- withdrew support to the ruling BJP in Haryana and announced that they would back the Congress. After that, the Congress delegation met the Governor last month.