Hooda sails through, wins trust vote

Haryana The Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government won the confidence vote in the Haryana assembly by a voice vote on Wednesday.

The Congress, which has 40 members in the assembly, won the trust motion by securing the support of 47 from among the 82 MLAs (excluding the Speaker) present in the House.

Six members of Kuldeep Bishnoi's Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) abstained from the proceedings.

Thirty-nine Congress members, seven Independents and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member favoured the motion.

Earlier, Harmohinder Singh Chatha of the Congress was elected the Speaker.

When Hooda was sworn in as the chief minister on October 25, Governor Jagannath Pahadia gave him a week to prove his majority.

The October 13 assembly election threw up a hung House. The Congress got 40 seats, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) 31, HJC six, BJP four and BSP and SAD one each in the 90-member House.

The Congress managed a majority after securing the support of seven Independents.

After Hooda moved the trust motion, INLD chief and Uchana Kalan MLA Om Prakash Chautala questioned the government's legitimacy.

"People have not given the Congress the mandate to rule. Is there a need to clarify this also? This government is absolutely illegitimate,'' he said.

With ruling and opposition members arguing, the Speaker said he would be forced to call for a vote. But, he then let the motion be decided by a voice vote.