Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini
Naib Singh Saini may have to step down as chief minister amid the frenzy of elections in Haryana. In fact, the government is now caught in a constitutional crisis due to non-calling of the assembly session. It is being said that the government has decided to dissolve the assembly to deal with the crisis.
If the assembly is dissolved, it will be the first time in the country’s history that a government has fallen due to a non-convening session. The tenure of Saini’s current government is till November 3.
The Saini government failed to convene the session
Article 174 of the Constitution of India states that the Governor has the right to convene a session on the recommendation of the Cabinet, but there should not be a gap of more than 6 months between two sessions. If this happens, there is no other option but to dissolve the assembly.
Naib Singh Saini’s government last convened the assembly session on March 13, 2024. After this the government talked about convening the session several times, but it could not be implemented. The last date for convening the session is 12th September.
It is being said that this is no longer possible, due to which the Saini government has decided to dissolve the assembly. The governor will dissolve the assembly after the recommendation of the cabinet. The tenure of the Haryana Legislative Assembly was currently till 3 November.
Big question – Why didn’t the government call the session?
The main reason for dissolving the assembly is that the government does not have an absolute majority. Haryana has 90 assembly seats, where 46 MLAs are needed to keep the government stable. In 2019, BJP won 40 seats, but at that time the party formed a government with JJP which had 10 seats.
The alliance between BJP and JJP broke up in March. Currently 2 MLAs Ranjit Chautala and Laxman Napa have left the party, while BJP has canceled the tickets of 15 MLAs. In which two ministers are also involved.
If the government had convened the assembly session now, the anger of these MLAs would have come out openly, so to avoid embarrassment, the government of Sauni is said to have decided to dissolve the assembly.
The lovely Lal Khattar is also a reason
Former CM Manohar Lal Khattar is also one of the reasons for the premature dissolution of the assembly. In fact, to reduce the anti-incumbency of the government, the BJP high command decided to remove Manohar Lal Khattar in March.
Due to the removal of Manohar Lal Khattar, the BJP also had to break its alliance with the JJP. Since then the government has been reduced to a minority. Bhupinder Hooda, Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, questioned this several times, but each time the government claimed majority.
There was also talk of convening the Monsoon Session after the Lok Sabha, but the government stalled it in the Cabinet meeting. The government continued to focus on announcing schemes and working in the field instead of convening the assembly session.
What will the Governor do after dissolution?
The Governor can dissolve the Assembly in the absence of a majority or on the recommendation of the Cabinet. This is elaborated in Article 174 of the Constitution. The Assembly remains dissolved until a new government is formed through elections. After the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, the executive power goes to the Governor.
Sometimes after the dissolution of the legislature, the governor makes the caretaker chief minister and sometimes not. For example, after the dissolution of the Telangana Assembly in 2018, KCR was made caretaker Chief Minister for a few months.
Similarly, when the assembly was dissolved in Kashmir, no one was made acting chief minister. However, it is being said that the picture of the new government in Haryana will be clear by October 8.
In such a situation the Governor should ask the current Chief Minister to remain as caretaker Chief Minister till then.
