Manohar Lal Khattar resigns as Haryana CM after cracks in BJP-JJP alliance
Speculations are rife that Khattar may be replaced by Haryana BJP chief Nayab Singh Saini while he may be asked to contest LS polls from Karnal
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday (March 12) submitted his resignation to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Speculations are rife that Khattar may be replaced by Haryana BJP chief Nayab Singh Saini while he may be asked to contest Lok Sabha polls from Karnal.
The development came in the aftermath of cracks surfacing in the state’s ruling BJP and Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) coalition over seat- sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019 elections.
The BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs, the sources said. At present, the BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House while the JJP has 10. The ruling combine also enjoys the support of six of seven independents.
Earlier, Independent MLA Nayan Pal Rawat on Tuesday claimed that the alliance is at break point but some independent MLAs who support the ML Khattar government would ensure its survival, news agency ANI reported.
The top leadership of both the BJP and JJP (Jannayak Janata Party) have called separate meetings of their respective MLAs. Central BJP leaders, including Union minister Arjun Munda and former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, are in the state to oversee the changes, sources told news agency PTI.
Sources also said the BJP, which is the single largest party in the 90-member Assembly, is confident of forming the government with support from independent MLAs. Till now the BJP was ruling after a post-poll alliance with Dushyant Chautala's JJP.
This has come as a setback to Chautala and his JJP, a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal, which was formed in 2019, right ahead of assembly elections.
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing crisis, JJP chief Dushyant Chautala has called an emergency meeting of his MLAs in Delhi.
The development holds significance as there are reports that several party MLAs are unlikely to attend this meeting and may desert the JJP to lend support to the BJP-led government in Haryana, which is likely to be formed with the help of Independent MLAs. The five JJP MLAs who are likely to switch over to alliance partner BJP are Jogi Ram Sihag, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Ramniwas and Devinder Babli. All these MLAs are likely to form a breakaway group and join the BJP.
