Nayab Singh Saini with Manohar Lal Khattar
New Delhi: After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up with its best-ever haul of 48 seats in the Haryana assembly election, the party on Saturday said that the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held on October 17 in Panchkula. The suspense over the next Chief Minister of Haryana continues as the BJP is yet to announce its pick for the top post.
Several senior leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior BJP leaders and chief ministers of some other states will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government.
BJP’s Victory & Congress’ ‘Unexpected’ Loss
Defying all exit polls, which predicted a Congress sweep in Haryana, BJP returned for the third consecutive term. The BJP ended up with its best-ever haul of 48 seats, 11 more than the Congress. The JJP and AAP were decimated and the INLD managed to win just two seats.
Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, reacting to his party’s unexpected loss in the Haryana assembly elections, said that he would inform the Election Commission about complaints of irregularities from several assembly constituencies. The Congress has demanded recounting on 20 assembly seats in Haryana.
Who Will Be The Next CM?
While the BJP has not announced its next Chief Minister officially, it had indicated during the assembly election that Nayab Singh Saini will be its choice for the top post if the party won.
Saini had replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana Chief Minister in March and was instrumental in helping the party win the recent assembly elections. An OBC leader, Saini was BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from the Kurukshetra constituency in Haryana before becoming the CM.
While, BJP’s Haryana election in-charge and union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had ruled out any possibility of change in the chief minister, Anil Vij has been demanding the top post citing his seniority. After being snubbed by the BJP before polls, Vij on counting day expressed his wish to be the next chief minister of Haryana.
Vij defeated his nearest rival Chitra Sarwara, an independent candidate, by 7,277 votes in Ambala Cantonment assembly constituency. If the high command wants, I will be the Chief Minister,” Vij told ANI on October 8. Vij was the front-runner for CM post after BJP secured majority in the 2014 assembly polls, but party high command picked first-time MLA, Manohar Lal Khattar, for the job. In the 2019 polls too, Khattar again beat Vij in the race, with the latter allotted key portfolios like home and health.
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