NEW DELHI/ CHANDIGRAH: Haryana State BJP president and MP, Nayab Singh Saini, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Haryana after Manohar Lal and his Council of Ministers resigned on Tuesday as the strained ruling coalition of the BJP and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) broke apart, amid differences over seat-sharing for the general election.
The new Chief Minister inducted five MLAs, including an independent, into the Cabinet. Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy to all of them. The MLAs include Kanwar Pal, Mool Chand, Banwari Lal, Jai Parkash Dalal — all from the BJP — and Ranjit Singh (Independent).
Mr Saini seen as a confidante of the 69-year-old ML Khattar – bent to touch his feet twice, and was hugged in return. And, in addition to Mr Saini, the BJP’s JP Dalal, Moolchand Sharma, Banwari Lal, and Kanwar Pal Gurjar – all from the old cabinet – took oath as ministers. In an equally significant move, outgoing Home Minister Anil Vij has been dropped.
The new government will be backed by six independent lawmakers and, potentially, five from the JJP of now ex-Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, who are set to cross but are not expected to get cabinet berths. The BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House, in which the majority mark is set at 46.  A floor test, which will most likely be a routine procedure – is scheduled for 11 am Wednesday. Note that immediately after the general election, Haryana will hold assembly polls.
Mr Khattar’s stepping down – and that of his ministers – followed a breakdown of the ruling BJP-JJP alliance over failed seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha election. While official word is yet to be out, the immediate trigger appears to be the collapse of the BJP’s four-and-a-half-year alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). JJP, which emerged from a split in the Chautala family of the Indian National Lok Dal, fought the last assembly election against the BJP but later came on board to form an alliance after the latter fell short of majority. The differences in seat allotment for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are believed to be the core reason for the rift in the BJP-JJP alliance, which has been under strain for the past six months.
However, the swapping of a chief minister has also been seen as another chapter in the BJP’s well-worn election playbook. In the past, the party has changed out chief ministers, and reshuffled cabinets before Assembly elections to ward off the anti-incumbency factor and rejuvenate state units and leaders. This was the tactic before polls in Gujarat and Uttarakhand, which the party won, and Karnataka, which it lost.
The selection of Mr Saini – an influential Other Backward Classes leader – also represents the BJP’s focus on caste and OBC equations in each state before an election. Many believe that the BJP’s recent decision to split from the JJP and form a new government was done to counter anti-incumbency in the upcoming general elections. The move was also aimed at splitting the dominant jat votes by leaving the JJP on its own and let it compete with the Congress for jat votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won all 10 parliamentary seats in the state. But it remains a challenge for the party to repeat its last election performance.
With a possible change in leadership, BJP will also try to neutralise the growing unpopularity against Khattar, who has been chief minister for the last nine-and-a-half years, and hope that a Gujarat-like move will help them stay in power. It is learnt that the BJP also changed government months before the Gujarat assembly polls.
BJP, which currently has 41 MLAs in the 90-member state assembly, needs support of five more MLAs to remain in power. Sources said all five independent MLAs have already extended support to the BJP. Besides, Sirsa MLA and President-Haryana Lokhit Party, Gopal Kanda, too, extended support to the party.
New Chief Minister Another likely factor in picking Mr Saini to be the new Chief Minister is that his community accounts for an estimated eight per cent of the state population, with sizeable populations in the Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Hisar and Rewari districts. Mr Saini is the Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra.
Haryana’s political landscape was thrown into flux this morning after Mr Khattar’s resignation, with a several rumours doing the rounds, including one that he will make his Lok Sabha election debut. There was speculation Mr Khattar would be fielded either from Karnal (held by the BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia) or Mr Saini’s Kurukshetra seat.
( With Inputs from Chandigrah Bureau).

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save