In the midst of political upheaval, the Haryana Assembly is poised for a special session today, where newly elected Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will undergo a floor test to prove his majority. Saini, Lok Sabha MP from Haryana’s Kurukshetra, formally staked his claim to form the government during a meeting with Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, succeeding his predecessor, senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar.
Saini was sworn in as the Haryana CM at a ceremony in Raj Bhawan, Chandigarh. Four BJP leaders—Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Jai Parkash Dalal, Moolchand Sharma, and Banwari Lal—were sworn in as ministers in the Haryana cabinet. Independent MLA Ranjit Singh also took the oath administered by Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, with former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar in attendance.
The newly elected CM asserted that the BJP-led government in the state enjoys the support of a total of 48 MLAs, informing the Governor about the floor test scheduled for Wednesday at approximately 11 am in the Vidhan Sabha.
“I want to thank PM Modi, party president JP Nadda, Union HM Amit Shah, and other senior leaders of the party for giving me this responsibility. We will work for the development of the state. We have asked the Speaker to conduct the floor test tomorrow at around 11 am, in the Vidhan Sabha. We have informed the Governor about the support of 48 MLAs,” said CM Saini.
Following the breakdown of the BJP and JJP alliance and the subsequent resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Khattar suggested that the JJP’s demand regarding Lok Sabha seat allocation in the polls may have led to the alliance’s dissolution.
“The demand of the JJP leaders over the Lok Sabha polls seat allocation may have led to the collapse of the alliance. The 10 seats in the state were won by the BJP. The JJP leaders must have talked to the central leadership. There is nothing official but they (JJP) have decided that they will fight the Lok Sabha seats separately and accordingly the decisions have been made,” stated former CM Khattar.
An influential figure within the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, Nayab Saini, BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra, assumed the role of the party’s state head in October last year. He is also a close confidante of Khattar, whose second consecutive term concluded this year.
Earlier on Tuesday, CM Khattar resigned from the position of state Chief Minister after the BJP alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) fell apart. The JJP, led by Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, had 10 MLAs in the Haryana Assembly. Khattar submitted his resignation letter to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured all 10 parliamentary seats, while the JJP, in alliance with AAP, could not win any of the 7 seats it contested. The BJP holds 41 out of 90 seats in the House, with the majority mark set at 46.
