DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

A delegation of the Haryana Congress met Governor Bandaru Dattatreya here on Thursday, claiming the Nayab Singh Saini's BJP government is in the "minority" and demanding dissolution of the Assembly as well as 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 the present government lacks a majority in the House "unless it indulges in horse-trading or use of unconstitutional means".

"Therefore, as the protector of the Constitution, His Excellency the Governor should immediately dismiss the minority government and impose President's rule in the state," the memorandum stated. "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.

The total number of MLAs supporting the government is only 43. Whereas at present the number of MLAs in the House is 87 and the majority figure is 44, Hooda said.

Replying to a question, Hooda also stated that Kiran Choudhry, the MLA from Tosham, who switched over to BJP from the Congress, has not resigned as assembly member. So the current strength of the Assembly as of now is 87, he said.

"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 to the Haryana governor read. The governor has assured the delegation that he would consider the memorandum, the former Haryana chief

minister said.

"We are adopting constitutional means. The governor is the constitutional head and we will wait for his decision," Hooda said in reply to a reporter's question.

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 claiming that the government was in the "minority".

When asked that state BJP leaders have countered that the Saini government was not in the minority as it had won the trust vote in March and the opposition should parade its MLAs before the governor if they think they have the numbers, Hooda quipped, "It is the government which has to make clear that numbers are on their side."

To another question, Hooda said, "Till the time Kiran Choudhry does not resign or the Speaker does not take any decision (on Haryana Congress' plea seeking her disqualification after she joined the BJP), the strength of Assembly will remain 87."

Hooda was also asked if the Congress would field a candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat held by Deepender Singh Hooda that fell vacant after his election to the Lok Sabha seat from Rohtak.
(editor@dailyworld.in)