CHANDIGARH, Feb. 20 -- Two months after the bitter showdown over a no-confidence motion, the Haryana assembly is set to reconvene on Friday for the lengthy Budget session with the political temperature still running high and little sign of any thaw between the ruling BJP and the Congress.

Though the no-confidence motion that the principal Opposition party the Congress had moved against the chief minister Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government was defeated by voice vote on December 19 evening, the acrimony triggered during the winter session continues to cast a long shadow. During that three-sitting winter session, the Congress had cornered the government on a raft of issues and staged noisy walk outs from the House, alleging that the chief...