Chandigarh, 8 May

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday said his government is not in any trouble and working strongly, a day after three Independent MLAs withdrew support to the BJP dispensation.

He blamed the Congress for creating the confusion that his government is in trouble. "The government is not in any trouble, it is working strongly," Saini told reporters at Sirsa when asked to comment on the withdrawal of support.

The chief minister was in Sirsa to campaign for Ashok Tanwar, the Lok Sabha poll candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Independent MLAs Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Singh Gollen (Pundri) and Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri) withdrew support to the BJP government in Haryana on Tuesday and announced that they would back the Congress, reducing the government to a minority in the state Assembly.

The government, which has the support of two other Independent legislators, is now two short of the majority mark in the 90-member House that has a current strength of 88.

Hitting out at the Congress, Saini said it has been the opposition party's thinking that it should fulfil the personal aspirations of some people. "When they ruled at the Centre, you must have seen that when they felt their government was in trouble, they used to fulfil the aspirations of some people," he said. But the people of Haryana are not going to fulfil the aspirations of the Congress, the chief minister added.

Saini said the "double-engine" government has ensured development in various spheres in the country as well as in the state. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP believe in development," he said.

Saini said the entire country is witnessing the misdeeds of the Congress. "The Congress knows that it cannot fulfil the aspirations of people and misleads them. It tries to create a state of confusion that the (state) government is in minority. The government is in no trouble and it is functioning strongly," he asserted.

The Haryana unit of the Congress has said it will write to the governor stating that the Saini government is in minority after the three Independent MLAs withdrew support to it and that it should be dismissed, President's Rule be imposed in the state and fresh polls announced.

Saini also said the BJP government gave jobs purely on the basis of merit. "During the Congress regime, the ruling party indulged in favouritism and there was corruption in giving jobs. Everyone knows on what basis they used to give jobs," he said.