BJP govt’s allies will vote against it in no-trust move: BS Hooda

Sunit Dhawan 

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, December 27

Former Haryana chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has expressed concern over the rising number of deaths of farmers during the ongoing agitation. 

“The farmer, who feeds the country, has left his home in the bitter cold and is sitting on the streets,” he said, adding that the apathy indifference of the government was proving to be fatal for agitating farmers.

The former chief minister said the demands of the agitators were completely valid but the government was constantly ignoring the movement and this neglect of the government is proving fatal.

“Every day some farmer is dying at the agitation site and many farmers have sacrificed their lives for the movement. The total number has now reached to about 40 farmers. In such a situation, the government should talk to farmers with sensitivity and seriousness and end their agitation by accepting their demands,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in Rohtak, Hooda reiterated that they wanted to bring a no-confidence motion against the state government in the Assembly on the issue of the farmers.

“This government has lost the trust of the public and its legislators. Every section of the state’s population is on the streets against the government today and many Independent MLAs have withdrawn their support. In this battle of farmers vs government, many legislators of coalition partner JJP have also openly spoken in support of farmers,” the Opposition leader said.

He said not only the Opposition but also the people of the state want to know the stand of every MLA on the issue of farmers.

“The public should know whether their representatives stand with the farmers or with those in power,” he said.

Hooda remarked that if the motion of No Confidence came in the Assembly, then even the government’s alliance partners would vote against the government.

“But still the Chief Minister says that there is no need to call a special session of the Assembly because the Opposition does not have any specific issues,” he pointed out.

The Leader of Opposition said: “Today, the ‘annadata’, the farmer, who feeds the nation, is agitating on the roads all over Haryana, including the Delhi border. Does the state government not consider such a big agitation by farmers? Does the government not consider the martyrdom of farmers on a daily basis a trivial issue? What could be a bigger issue for any government,” Hooda questioned.

Hooda said the Opposition had demanded a special session from the Governor and not the Chief Minister because the Governor had the constitutional right to do so.

“The Chief Minister dismissing this demand clearly indicates that he himself does not trust his government and MLAs and this is why he would not like to have a motion of no confidence against him. Hence, we had appealed directly to the Governor that he should use his constitutional powers and call a special session of the Legislative Assembly in view of the situation and political circumstances of the farmers of the state,” he said.