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Haryana Alliance Ends, ML Khattar May Take Oath Sources
Mar 12, 2024 02:10 pm
By
infodivyadelhi

 After the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party alliance dissolved amid failed Lok Sabha seat-sharing talks, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his cabinet resigned this morning, causing political turmoil in Haryana. Maybe 4 pm, sources say. With 41 BJP MLAs in the 90-member Assembly and five JJP MLAs—Jogi Ram Sihag, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Ramniwas, and Devinder Babli—he may form a new administration. These five may merge with the BJP but are unlikely to become ministers, sources said. Seven independent MLAs may support the new administration.Our support has already extended... We also talked election strategies. I thought the coalition was breaking up." Nayan Rawat, independent MLA, said. National General Secretary Tarun Chugh and junior Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda rushed to watch a legislature party meeting and a swearing-in ceremony with a new Chief Minister and two (maybe) deputies later today. Mr Khattar is the frontrunner, although he may be replaced to avoid anti-incumbency emotions. Sources say Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini and Karnal Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Bhatia, Mr. Khattar's Assembly constituency, are also running. The state leadership of the BJP had misgivings about the JJP's capacity to win Jat votes, according to sources. In a repeat of the BJP's Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh victories, Haryana may have two Deputy Chief Ministers from different communities. The BJP took its time naming its three new chief ministers for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh last year, considering caste and community dynamics and the Lok Sabha election.After failing to reach a Lok Sabha seat-sharing pact, the BJP-JJP alliance, established after the 2019 Assembly election failed to produce a majority, has broken up. The JJP wanted two of the state's 10 seats, but the BJP only offered one.Since then, both parties have pledged to run independently in the election. The BJP won all 10 seats in 2019. Mr. Chautala's newly formed party lost all seven contests but finished with 4.9% of the vote.After his resignation, Mr. Khattar may run for Lok Sabha from Mr. Bhatia's Karnal. Sources say Mr. Bhatia may change course. Mr. Chautala has many possibilities, including the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, which may collaborate. The Indian National Lok Dal, established by former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal and led by his son Om Prakash, is another possibility. The Congress and AAP have agreed to divide seats in the state, with the Congress contesting nine seats and the AAP Kurukshetra.The political shift in Haryana may bolster the Congress' clout in the state, which will contest an Assembly poll this year. Hisar MP Brijendra Singh joined the opposition with Mallikarjun Kharge last week. "I have resigned from BJP's primary membership due to compelling political reasons," stated.In the 2019 Assembly election, Congress won 31 seats, up from 15 five years earlier. Like the JJP, the national party lost all 10 seats to the BJP in the general election, but its vote share rose 5.5% to 28.5%.