Nayab Singh Saini took oath as the Chief Minister of Haryana on Tuesday, succeeding Manohar Lal Khattar. Saini, a Member of Parliament from Kurukshetra and a representative of the OBC community, was appointed the state president of Haryana BJP in October the previous year. The swearing-in ceremony, held at Raj Bhavan, also saw five ministers, including BJP MLAs Banwari Lal and Jai Prakash Dalal, and independent legislator Ranjit Singh, taking the oath.
Saini was selected as the BJP’s legislature party leader after Khattar stepped down amidst strains in the BJP-JJP alliance. Anil Vij, former Home Minister, was not present at the ceremony as he had left the legislative party meeting earlier.
The BJP-JJP alliance, which had governed Haryana since 2019, saw its ties deteriorate following unsuccessful seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections. The Khattar cabinet, including 14 ministers, resigned, including the CM and three members of the Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala-led JJP. Currently, the BJP holds 41 seats in the 90-member assembly, while the JJP has 10. The alliance has the support of six out of seven independents.
The Congress, the main opposition, has 30 MLAs, while the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party each have one seat. Reacting to Khattar’s resignation, Congress MP Deepender Hooda stated that the public’s decision for change was driving the developments in Haryana, expressing discontent with the present government.
