The BJP’s Manoharlal Khattar took oath as the Chief Minister of Haryana for a second term today. At the function in Chandigarh’s Raj Bhavan, Dushyant Chautala, the chief of ally Jannayak Janta Party or JJP, took oath as his deputy.
The ceremony was attended by a number of central and state ministers and senior BJP leaders. The list included Union minister JP Nadda, Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal, his son and senior party leader Sukhbir Badal. Congress’s Bhupinder Hooda also attended the ceremony.
The BJP, which has 40 seats, has entered a deal with Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party or JJP, which won 10 seats in the recently concluded assembly elections. The JJP chief had met BJP president Amit Shah on Friday night after two days of frenzied negotiations.
Seven independent MLAs have also extended support to the BJP, helping it reach a tally of 57 seats in the 90-member house.
The alliance staked claim to form government yesterday at a meeting with Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya. The Congress, which initially invited Dusyant Chautala to form government, dropped out of the race when he failed to respond.
The BJP’s tally was seen as a low for a party that won all 10 parliamentary seats in the national elections earlier this year, and was hoping to cross 75 seats in the state. Eight of 10 ministers from the party lost the election.
In his congratulatory message, PM Modi attributed the victory to Mr Khattar’s efforts and said these days, it is no mean achievement for a party to get consecutive terms in power in a state.
Dushyant Chautala’s father Ajay Chautala, who was in Tihar jail after his conviction in a teachers recruitment scam, was released from jail this morning on a two-week parole.
“Dushyant has established the organisation in just 11 months along with the party workers. A son is known by his father’s name only. The efforts taken by the party workers have flourished today on an auspicious occasion,” Ajay Chautala was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
