Chauhan's resignation came in the wake of a notice given by the ruling group for his removal from the office, expressing `lack of faith' in him.In fact, immediately after taking oath on Saturday, Chautala had made it clear that the Speaker would have to resign soon. He had repeatedly said that "either speaker would go on his own or we know what to do".

Chhatar Singh was elected as Speaker in May 1996 after the Bansi Lal government assumed power in the state. The Haryana Vikas Party is now in the Opposition after Bansi Lal bowed out of office on July 21, just before he was asked by the Haryana Governor Mahabir Prasad to seek vote of confidence again.

The present ruling group, excluding the Bhratiya Janata Party and the breakaway Haryana Vikas Party (Democratic), along with theCongress have all along been complaining against partisan attitude of the Speaker. It was a record of sorts that during the last three years, the Opposition gave notices for his removal on four different occasions. These notices were rejected every time since under Article 179(c) of the Constitution, a statutory minimum 14 days notice is required for seeking removal of the Speaker. The Opposition charged chief minister Om Prakash Chautala with "constitutional impropriety" in seeking a confidence vote. Participating in a debate on the confidence motion moved by Chautala amid uproar, former Speaker Chattar Singh Chauhan said "as per Article 163 of the Constitution, the confidence of the House is sought in the council of ministers" but posed "where is the council?"

The Opposition, mainly the HVP and the Congress, sought to know whether the chief minister could seek the trust vote in a "non-existent" council of ministers. The Opposition contended that the council of ministers should be there to seek theconfidence of the house and the chief minister alone could not seek it.

At the time of going to the press, the debate was still on.