Khattar to be sworn in tomorrow; Dushyant to take charge as Deputy CM

Following his election as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) legislative party, Manohar Lal Khattar is scheduled to take over as the chief minister of Haryana, on Sunday (October 27), for the second consecutive time. Dushyant Chautala of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) is all set to take over as the deputy chief minister.

BJP president Amit Shah had announced at a press conference on Friday in New Delhi that the chief minister would be from his party and the deputy chief minister from the regional outfit.

Earlier, leaders, including Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and state party chief Subhash Barala, met Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya.

Dushyant Chautala too met the governor to submit his party’s letter of support to the BJP.

Together, the BJP and the JJP have 50 seats in the 90-member assembly.

The BJP is all set to form a new government in Haryana after clinching an alliance with the JJP, which won 10 seats in the 90-member assembly.

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Dushyant Chautala, a great-grandson of the late deputy prime minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal, said his party believed the alliance was necessary for stability in Haryana.

The BJP’s decision to win over Chautala underlines its quest to placate the Jats, a dominant community in the state which is believed to have voted against the saffron party in the just-concluded assembly polls.

Top BJP leaders moved swiftly since Thursday night to cobble together a majority in Haryana after the party’s tally fell to 40 in the state, six short of the majority mark.

Most of the seven independent MLAs have also pledged their support to the party.

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Most of the independent MLAs are BJP rebels and several of them have given their letters of support to Khattar during a meeting at the residence of the party’s working president, JP Nadda, in the national capital.

Notably, the BJP has said it will not take the support of Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, a controversial politician who faces two abetment-to-suicide cases, for forming the government in Haryana.

Earlier, Khattar was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP’s legislative party in Haryana, with the saffron party claiming that it would provide a “stable and honest” government in Haryana with the support of the JJP.

(With inputs from agencies)