COURTSY HT JAN 13

Khattar, Dushyant meet Shah, say no threat to Haryana govt

Dushyant Chautala says the government will last its full five year term
HT Correspondent and PTI

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

New Delhi/Chandigarh : Facing heat over the ongoing six-week-long farmers’ agitation, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday said there is no threat to the BJP-JJP coalition government and it will complete its full five year term.

After an hour-long meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, both Khattar and Chautala said they have discussed about the prevailing law and order situation in the state.

“There is no threat to the Haryana government and it will last its full five year term,” Chautala said.

“There is no point in speculating about the future of this government, it will complete its term. Haryana is the epicentre of farmers’ agitation so they discussed with the home minister about the law and order situation in the state,” Khattar said.

They were hopeful that farmers will end their agitation after the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of farm laws, he added.

Hours before Dushyant met Shah in Delhi, two rebel JJP MLAs said the Centre should repeal the three contentious farm laws or it will cost the ruling BJP-JJP alliance in Haryana “heavily”.

Before the meeting with Shah, the deputy CM met his party MLAs in Delhi and sought feedback from them. Ram Kumar Gautam and Ishwar Singh did not attend the meeting, while Jogi Ram Sihag, who has unfurled the banner of revolt against the party on farm laws, reached the meeting towards the end, it was learnt.

Centre should roll back laws, says JJP MLA

“The Centre should roll back these laws as farmers of Haryana, Punjab and the country are up in arms against the legislations,” JJP MLA Jogi Ram Sihag told PTI.

“We will request Dushyant ji to convey our feelings to Amit Shah ji,” he added. Ram Kumar Gautam said, “I have nothing to do with the JJP (meeting)… not going to Delhi… the sentiment in Haryana is against the three farm laws and it will cost the ruling BJP-JJP alliance heavily in the coming days.”

Dushyant held the meeting in the backdrop of farmers’ agitation dominating the political discourse in Haryana where numerous villages have banned entry of BJP-JJP MLAs.

A section of the JJP MLAs, who were present in the meeting, said Dushyant sought feedback from them about the issues revolving around the farmers and their impact on the party.

Some MLAs demanded a financial package for the farmers, while others expressed concern over the adverse impact of the agitation on the JJP