In a day of swift political developments in Haryana, state BJP state president Nayab Singh Saini was sworn in as the new chief minister on Tuesday after Manohar Lal Manohar Lal and his cabinet resigned. Earlier in the day, BJP had ended its alliance with JJP.
Saini was administered oath by Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatrey during a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan. It is worth noting that Saini, a confidant and loyal to former CM Manohar Lal, was made the state president of Haryana BJP on 27 October 2023, removing OP Dhankar from the post which had led to new political speculation then.
BJP’s former partner JJP’s Devendra Babli also participated in the swearing-in ceremony which sparked new political speculation ahead of the polls as the BJP and JJP have parted their ways on Tuesday.
four BJP stalwarts — Kanwar Pal, Dr. Banwari Lal, JP Dalal, Moolchand Sharma and Ranjeet Singh Chautala– and an independent MLA have been given berth in the new state cabinet. A maximum of 14 ministers, including 10 cabinet and 4 ministers of state, can be given berth in the state cabinet.
Independent MLAs who have extended support to the ruling saffron BJP are now eyeing the remaining post of ministers. It would not be a cakewalk for the BJP to pick MLAs for the cabinet keeping in view the long list of contenders in the fray.
Among the independent MLAs seeking ministership are Dharampal Gondar from Nilokhedi, Randhir Golan from Pundri, Gopal Kanda from Sirsa, Rakesh Daulatabad from Badshahpur, Ranjit Singh Chautala from Rania, Somveer Sangwan from Dadri and Nayanpal Rawat from Prithla.
Any party trying to from government in 90 seats assembly is required to have the support of 46 MLAs.
In the 90-member Haryana assembly, the BJP has 42 MLAs, Congress has 31 legislators and JJP has 10 MLAs.
Besides, there are 7 independent MLAs.
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) have 2 MLAs.
Since JJP and BJP have now parted ways, BJP has formed the government with the support of 7 independent MLAs.
Though the alliance has ended, the participation of many JJP MLAs in the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet was a topic of discussion.
Internal tussle has been going on in JJP since many MLAs were refused ministership after the BJP-JJP coalition government was formed in 2019.
JJP MLAs including Devendra Singh Babli who was appointed the cabinet minister, Ishwar Singh Singh, Ramniwas Surjakheda and Jogiram Sihag of JJP were also present in the swearing-in ceremony.
Apart from CM, five ministers took oath. They are as follows.
1.Kanwarpal Singh
2. Moolchand Sharma
3.Ranjit Singh Chautala
4. Jaiprakash Dalal
5.Dr. Banwari Lal