Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: With the BJP removing Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the Congress on Tuesday stated that the "chaos" in the state reflected the "people's growing angst" against the saffron party, suggesting that it was time for change in the country.
The party alleged that the move was a "pre-planned drama" orchestrated by the BJP and the JJP to evade the consequences of their perceived "failure." It demanded fresh elections under President's rule.
Khattar resigned on Tuesday, and state BJP chief Nayab Singh Saini is expected to succeed him, amidst speculation of a potential split between the BJP and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP).
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The chaos that we are seeing in Haryana is a result of pressure from farmers, youths and wrestlers and the same is going to happen in the country too."
"What we have seen in Haryana is the power of 'Jai Jaswan, jai kisan, jai naujawan and jai pahalwan'. What they have done in Haryana, they will do to Mr Modi very soon. It is time for change," he said.
Another Congress general secretary. Randeep Singh Surjewala, said, "In Haryana, a 'political circus' has begun to collect votes by dividing Haryanvis on the basis of caste as part of a pre-determined 'script'."
"A new 'trial balloon' will be out blaming the JJP for all its sins. A new cabinet will be formed, perhaps even a new chief minister."
"To make people forget their past misdeeds and divert them from the anti-people policies and decisions of the past 10 years, a new 'label' will be put on the 'basket of sins'," he said.
"Today, the need of the hour is that the Congress should immediately bring a 'no-confidence motion'. Now the people also have to decide. Think, understand and do justice," he said.
The JJP, he claimed, will be made to contest separate elections so that a new chessboard of "vote division" can be set up and perhaps cases would also be filed against JJP leaders so that "sympathy factor" can be created.
It is possible that soon the BSP or one or two more political parties may also be fielded under agreement or alone so that the "politics of division" becomes more intense, he claimed.
"But brothers and sisters of Haryana, what is the truth? The truth is that the BJP, which is laying 'shakuni ki chaupar', neither had a majority in the year 2019, nor does it have a majority today," he said.
"In 2014 and 2019 also, the BJP's way of gaining power was through division of castes, it is the same today and it will be the same in the future too," Surjewala said.
Congress leader Kumari Selja also said that "it is time for change" and accused the BJP of betraying the youth.
"It's time for change. This manipulative drama of BJP-JJP is an attempt to mislead the public once again," she said in a post on X.
Selja said the people of Haryana will elect the Congress government this time because her party "is fighting for the rights of the poor class, backward class and women. This fight is for justice, this fight is for the rights of unemployed youth".
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda said that the BJP has lost the confidence of the people.
Former Haryana chief minister and CLP leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, "I am not surprised by this... This alliance has failed. This alliance was done not on policy basis but was a 'thagbandhan' (alliance of thugs) and they have accepted their moral defeat just before elections."
"They want to camouflage their failures and the people of Haryana understand," he said, demanding that President's rule should be imposed in Haryana and fresh elections should be held.
The Haryana Cabinet comprised 14 ministers, including Khattar and three members of the Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala-led JJP. All have resigned.
Haryana BJP president and OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini, who is an MP from Kurukshetra, was unanimously elected as the leader of the state BJP legislature group.