BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini Takes Oath As New Haryana Chief Minister

New Delhi:  BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini, 54, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Haryana at a rapidly-assembled ceremony in Chandigarh Tuesday evening, capping a frenetic few hours triggered by the resignation this morning of his predecessor, Manohar Lal Khattar, and the entire cabinet.

The new government will likely be backed six independent lawmakers and, potentially, five MLAs from the JJP, who are set to cross-over but are not expected to be given ministerial berths. The BJP already has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House, in which the majority mark is set at 46.

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. 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. The BJP made similar moves in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh (this was after it won the elections).

In the first instance, it replaced four-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and, in the second, in Rajasthan, opted against bringing back former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Mr Khattar is a two-time Chief Minister of Haryana and his term was to expire in October.

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. It now appears he will be given the ticket for the latter.

The BJP-JJP alliance in Haryana – formed after the 2019 Assembly election – seemed to be running smoothly till roadblocks over seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha poll. The JJP wanted two seats but the BJP would only give one; in 2019 the JJP contested and lost seven seats and the BJP won all 10.

The JJP has said it will contest all 10 seats on its own; the party will hold a rally in Hisar district, at which JJP boss Dushyant Chautala is expected to announce details of that campaign.

Haryana may have only 10 Lok Sabha seats, but it is a Hindi heartland state and is therefore a crucial battleground for the BJP. This is particularly so since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party set itself a target of 370 Lok Sabha seats (on its own) and 400 with National Democratic Alliance members.

The Congress, meanwhile, has hit out at the BJP. Former state unit boss, Selja Kumari, slammed the party for “roaming all over the country making alliances” but failing to properly govern Haryana.