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Chautala's government defeats no-confidence motion

The Opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against the three-and-a-half-month-old Om Prakash Chautala government was defeated tonight by 52 votes to 28 after a prolonged and stormy debate.

The motion tabled by the Congress and the Haryana Vikas Party, expressing lack of faith in the government, was put to vote by Speaker Ashok Kumar Arora after a five-hour debate.

Twenty-eight members of the legislative assembly belonging to the Congress and the HVP stood in favour of the motion, while 52 members comprising the ruling Indian National Lok Dal led by Chautala, the Bharatiya Janata Party and independents opposed the motion.

Former chief minister and HVP president Bansi Lal, his party colleague Sri Kishan Dass and four HVP legislators who were recently inducted into the Chautala government were absent from the House. One independent member abstained during the voting, while one BJP member does not have the right to vote.

This was the first no-confidence motion against the Chautala government after it assumed office on July 24. Earlier, the Chautala government had won the confidence of the House by 55 to 32 votes on July 27 after assuming office.

In a cut-and-thrust debate marked by noisy interruptions and heated exchanges, in which members traded accusations, the Opposition charged the government with violating the anti-defection law and failing on all fronts, including law-and-order and power supply.

In a spirited reply, Chief Minister Chautala set at rest all speculation that he was going in for a mid-term election to the state assembly.

Making a scathing attack on the Congress for first supporting the earlier Bansi Lal government and then withdrawing it, he said the people of Haryana had made the Congress and the HVP lick the dust in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election.

Listing the achievements of his 110-day-old government, Chautala justified the induction of three HVP legislators and the fourth who had been expelled from the party, saying, "I have included good people in my team."

UNI

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