Haryana trust vote tomorrow; Cong won’t support Bansi

Should it exercise the second option, the 35-member HVP with the support of eight Independents, who had backed Bansi Lal in the trust vote on June 25, will have no problem winning the trial of strength in the House with an effective strength of 89 members.

The HVP has 35 members, the BJP 10, the Indian National Lok Dal 22 and the Congress 12. There are 10 Independents in the House.

Mukherjee said his party wanted dissolution of the Assembly followed by elections, as “no party in Haryana” had the strength to form a government without encouraging defections and horsetrading.

“The people of Haryana should be given a chance to elect their government,” he said shortly after a meeting with party MLAs in the state, also attended by PCC president Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Haryana plunged into a political crisis last week following the withdrawal of support by the Congress to the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) government, a fortnight after bailing it out in the wake of the BJP pulling out of the coalition.

The AICC general secretary accused Bansi Lal of failing to honour the commitment given by him to party president Sonia Gandhi — that he would recommend dissolution of the Assembly, leading to fresh elections.

The House will meet at 2 pm on Wednesday to take up the trust vote, Assembly secretary Sumit Kumar said.