MANOHAR Lal Khattar sworn in as CM of Haryana with Dushyant Chautala as Dy CM

Manohar Lal Khattar has taken oath as the Haryana Chief Minister for a second term to lead the BJP-JJP (Jannayak Janata Party) coalition government in Haryana. JJP President and legislative party leader   Dushyant Chautala is Deputy Chief Minister. The BJP-JJP alliance comprises 40 BJP MLAs, ten JJP and seven Independent lawmakers. The total number of seats in the state legislative assembly is 90. Congress has won 31 seats in the just concluded assembly elections. Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered the oath at a ceremony at Chandigarh on Sunday, October 27 at   the Raj Bhawan Barring Khattar and Dushyant, no Cabinet member took oath. The full Cabinet will take oath after Diwali.

BJP working president JP Nadda, Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore, former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union ministers Krishan Pal Gurjar, RL Kataria, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Jairam Thakur and former Haryana chief minister Bhupindar Singh Hooda were present. Five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, whose party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had an alliance with BJP’s rival Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) during the Assembly elections despite being an NDA partner, attended the ceremony along with son and Member of Parliament Sukhbir Badal. Congress leader and ex –Haryana Chief Minister Bhupindar Hooda later said the BJP-JJP alliance is opportunist, unholy and against the mandate. Incidentally, he had failed to enlist JJP’s support to form government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his congratulations to Khattar and Chautala. News 18 says Dushyant Chautala’s father Ajay Chautala, who has been released on parole from Delhi’s Tihar Jail, also attended the event. Dushyant Chautala’s mother Naina Chautala, who has been re-elected MLA for the second time, was also present. Ajay Chautala is lodged in the Tihar jail after his conviction in a teachers’ recruitment scam since 2013. Ajay Chautala, grandson of two-time Chief Minister of the northern state and as many time Deputy Prime Minister of India, advised his son to tie up with BJP.Chaudhry Devi Lal had been with the NDA and was opposed to INC till his last days. Earlier before calling on Governor Arya on Saturday to stake claim to form government, Khattar was unanimously elected leader of the BJP’s legislative party in Haryana. He had met the Governor with Dushyant and submitted a list of 57 MLAS- 40 belonging to BJP, Ten from JJP and seven of them are Independent MLAs. The alliance was on Saturday night finalized by Home Minister and BJP National President Amit Shah with Dushyant Singh and Khattar and others.