Cong wants special session, but yet to get time from guv to meet: Hooda

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said the Congress wanted a special session of the state assembly so a no-confidence motion could be brought against the M L Khattar government, but despite multiple attempts to meet the governor over the issue they were yet to get time from him.

Hooda, who is the leader of the opposition, said two of the seven Independent MLAs have already withdrawn support to the BJP-JJP government, while many JJP MLAs have openly come out in support of farmers protesting against the Centre's new farm laws.

"We earlier wrote to the governor urging him to summon a special session, stating that the Congress wants to bring a no-confidence motion because this government has lost the trust of the people as well as some MLAs.

"We did not get a response following which we again sought time to meet, but we were told that he could not meet due to COVID-19," Hooda said.

Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya had contracted COVID-19 in mid-November.

"A couple of days ago we got a reply from the governor's office that expressed regret regarding our fresh request for an appointment. I had even said that I would be the only person to meet him if COVID-19 restriction was an issue, but our request was again turned down," Hooda said.

"It is for the first time in my long political career that I am seeing the governor is not giving the time to meet without assigning any reasons. Now, we will again write to the governor to demand a special session of the Haryana Assembly," he told a news conference here after a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party.

Hooda said that while they don't expect the Khattar government to summon a special session, the governor must use constitutional powers to convene it.

The CLP meeting passed a resolution in support of farmers protesting against the Centre's three agricultural laws. The resolution said the demands of the farmers are completely valid and the movement is going on in a completely democratic and peaceful manner.

Hooda said farmers have been agitating for 36 days now at border points of Delhi and other parts of the state in bitter cold.

"In such a serious situation, it is important to discuss the issue of farmers. This can also be taken up in the special session," he said.

To a question, Hooda said the demands of agitating farmers are justified.

He said he had earlier stated that the government should make a provision in law that if anyone procures below the minimum support price (MSP), it should be a punishable offence.

Replying to a question, Hooda said in two months, the Khattar government has suffered two major setbacks.

"After its loss in the Baroda by-election, the coalition has also suffered a crushing defeat in the local body elections. In the civic elections, whose results were declared on Wednesday, the BJP faced setback while its ally JJP suffered reverses," he said.

He claimed that it is clear from these results that after the rural voters in Baroda, the urban voters have also rejected the BJP-JJP alliance.

The three mayoral seats of Panchkula, Ambala and Sonipat were won by the BJP, Haryana Jan Chetna Party and the Congress, respectively.

When asked why he did not campaign for Congress candidates in the civic polls in Panchkula and Ambala, Hooda said he had not been invited by the contesting candidates.

"Had I been invited, I would have gone, like I went to Rewari, where municipal council polls were held," he said.

To a query, he said the Congress should an analysis why it lost mayoral polls in Panchkula and Ambala.

Earlier, Hooda chaired a meeting of the CLP which observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect and paid tribute to "42 farmers who had lost their lives in the farmer's agitation" due to various reasons, including dying due to a heart attack, road accidents etc.

Hooda also said that CLP decided that on New Year's Day, Congress MLAs will go to border points of Delhi to extend any kind of help or support which the farmers might require.