Nayab Singh Saini sworn-in as Haryana Chief Minister

Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and Member of Parliament from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency, Nayab Singh Saini, took oath as the new Chief Minister of the state. Former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar was also present.

BJP MLA Subhash Sudha said that Nayab Singh Saini was chosen unanimously as the leader of the party's legislature group.

Karnal BJP MP Sanjay Bhatia said, "It is the CM's right to choose his cabinet and he will do so in consultation with the party. We will win all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana."

The BJP had replaced Om Prakash Dhankar with Saini as the state party chief in October, a move then seen as an attempt to strengthen its hold on the OBC community. The vote of the Jats, the most populous community in the state, is seen to be divided among the Congress, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal.

Saini was a minister in the first Khattar cabinet. He was an MLA when he fought the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala resigned on Tuesday, March 12. The whole state cabinet, too, resigned. The development came ahead of the Lok Sabha election scheduled in April-May.

BJP leader Kanwar Pal Gujjar said, "CM and cabinet ministers have resigned and the Governor has accepted the resignations..."

Earlier, the BJP rushed senior leaders Tarun Chugh and Arjun Munda to the state. The BJP legislature party may meet on Tuesday, the report said. The nature of change is not clear, with senior party leaders keeping mum.

Sirsa MLA and President of Haryana Lokhit Party, Gopal Kanda, told ANI, "...I think the alliance (BJP-JJP) has almost broken. In Lok Sabha elections, BJP will win all 10 seats. Even without JJP, the Haryana government will stay, and all independent candidates will continue to support the BJP."

The ties between the BJP and Chautala-led JJP have worsened following their failure to reach a seat-sharing agreement in the state for the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 polls.

At present, the BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member assembly, while the JJP has 10. The ruling coalition also enjoyed the support of six of the seven independents. The party appears to be comfortably placed in Haryana even without the JJP support. The main opposition Congress has 30 MLAs, and the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party have one seat each.

Haryana is scheduled to hold assembly polls later this year.