Chandigarh:

The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government in Haryana is likely to be held in Panchkula on October 15.

Preparations are underway for the event in Panchkula, a senior official said on Friday.

The official said a tentative date for the oath taking is October 15.

“We are preparing the venue for the event,” Panchkula’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr Yash Garg told PTI over phone.

A district level committee has also been formed under the DC’s chairmanship for making necessary arrangements for the oath ceremony.

The BJP had indicated during the elections that Nayab Singh Saini, who replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister in March and hails from the Other Backward Classes, will be its choice for the top post if it wins.

Sources said the event is likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top BJP leaders, including many chief ministers, of the party-ruled states.

The party ended up with its best-ever haul of 48 seats, 11 more than the Congress. The JJP and the AAP were decimated and the INLD managed to win just two seats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Banners related to upcoming election can be seen at Ambala district in Haryana.
| Photo Credit: Sabika Syed

Chandigarh:

The rebellion in the Haryana BJP sparked by leaders being denied tickets for the upcoming elections intensified on Saturday with a former minister joining the ranks of those who have quit the party.

Former Haryana minister Bachan Singh Arya was hoping for a ticket from the Safidon Assembly constituency but the BJP decided to field Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) rebel Ram Kumar Gautam, who had joined the party earlier this month. The JJP was a BJP ally until Nayab Singh Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the Haryana chief minister in March this year. 

The BJP had released its first list of 67 candidates on Wednesday and Mr Arya, who had lost from the Safidon Assembly constituency by a margin of about 3,500 votes in 2019, had posted a couplet on social media the next day, in which he spoke of injustice and hinted at a rebellion

“Laga do aag pani mein, shararat ho to aisi ho. Mita do hasti julmo ki, bagawat ho to aise ho. (Set fire to water, if there is mischief, let it be like this. Erase the existence of injustice, if there is a rebellion, let it be like this),” the former minister had posted. 

On Saturday, Mr Arya announced he was quitting the BJP in a terse four-line letter, stating that he was resigning from the primary membership of the party and the state executive.

Mr Arya’s resignation follows the exit of two Haryana ministers – Energy Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Social Justice Bishamber Singh Valmiki – and MLA Lakshman Napa, who were denied tickets. Key OBC leader Karan Dev Kamboj also resigned from all posts in the BJP for the same reason.

While Mr Chautala announced that he would contest as an Independent, Mr Napa said he would join the Congress.

The loss of Mr Chautala, 79, can hurt the party as he is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal, one of Haryana’s tallest leaders, who served as chief minister twice and was also a deputy prime minister.

“I am Chaudhary Devi Lal’s son. I have some stature… I have decided to contest as an Independent,” Mr Chautala had said on Thursday.

Some of the leaders also alleged that loyalists were not being valued by the BJP.

“Perhaps the BJP does not need loyalists anymore,” Mr Kamboj had said, adding that the party was rewarding leaders who had joined recently while ignoring those who had served it for years. 

‘No Scope For Change’

Amid the rebellion, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had said on Friday that speculation over changing candidates should end as there was no scope for doing so.  “Everyone wants a ticket, but the ‘lotus’ (BJP’s symbol) can be given to only one person… It is natural for ticket-seekers to get angry. But they will be persuaded,” he said.

The BJP, which has ruled Haryana since 2014, faces a stiffer challenge this time because it lost five of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress this year after sweeping all of them in 2019. The protests by farmers – who are seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) – last year’s agitation by wrestlers, and concerns over the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the Army are seen as posing challenges to the party in the state. 

Congress Jolted Too

The Congress, which got a boost after inducting wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia into the party on Friday, also got a jolt on Saturday – just a day after releasing its first list of 32 candidates for the Haryana polls. Senior leader Rajesh Joon resigned from the Congress and decided to contest as an Independent candidate after being denied a ticket from Bahadurgarh, where the party decided to retain sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon. 

“The Congress leadership cheated me. I was promised a ticket but the promise was not kept. I will become an MLA by polling double the number of votes that the Congress candidate gets,” Mr Joon said. 

In the Baroda Assembly constituency, Congress leader Kapoor Singh Narwal said he was promised a ticket by Mr Hooda, but it was given to Induraj Singh Narwal.

“They have cheated the people of the constituency, not me. I will take a call on contesting as an Independent tomorrow (Sunday),” Kapoor Singh Narwal said, even as sources close to him indicated he could leave the party.

Chandigarh:

The Jannayak Janta Party on Wednesday morning issued a three-line whip to its MLAs in the Haryana Assembly, ordering them to be absent from House proceedings for the day.

The MLAs were directed to miss a floor test meant to assess the majority status of the new Bharatiya Janata Party-led government. The whip has been seen by as illegal, as no party can stop participation in a democratic exercise; they can only direct votes on party lines.

Should the JJP MLAs – on paper there are 10, though there are reports that at least five will breakaway, form a new group, and join the BJP – follow the whip, it will bring down the majority mark in the 90-member House from 46 to 41, which is the BJP’s current strength. A lowered majority mark will ensure the BJP passes; although even without that it has the numbers thanks to support from independents.

Haryana witnessed a swift change of government over the past 48 hours, with senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar and the entire cabinet, which included three from the JJP, quitting Tuesday.

READ | BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini Takes Oath As New Haryana Chief Minister

The party’s state boss, Nayab Singh Saini, was chosen to replace him and took his oath hours later, with four BJP MLAs (from the just-disbanded cabinet) by his side.

READ | Who Is Nayab Saini: 5 Facts On New Haryana Chief Minister

In line with the rules, the floor test was then ordered for 11 am the following day.

Ahead of this floor test, the BJP had claimed the support of 48 MLAs – its 41 plus the seven independent lawmakers. This is not including the five expected to join from the JJP.

The proximate cause of the break-up of Mr Khattar’s government was the failure of the BJP-JJP alliance, which was formed after the 2019 Assembly election, in which the former emerged as the single-largest party but fell six seats short of an outright majority. 

The party eventually formed the government with support from the JJP, which was given a few ministerial berths and party boss Dushyant Chautala was made Deputy Chief Minister. Mr Chautala maintained radio silence through most of yesterday, emerging only after the swearing-in to thank the people of Haryana.

READ | “Worked Day And Night”: Dushyant Chautala On BJP’s Haryana Revamp

The alliance reportedly broke this week due to failed seat-sharing talks for the 2024 Lok Sabha election; the JJP wanted two of the state’s 10 seats, but the BJP would only give one.

Sources, however, have told NDTV the BJP also had one eye on the apparent renaissance of eternal rivals Congress in the heartland state; last week MP Brijendra Singh quit the BJP – for “compelling political reasons” – joined the Congress after being denied a ticket for his seat. 

Sources said the party hopes that a split from the JJP will help break-up the Jat votes between the state party and the Congress, both of whom have influence over a community that accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the state population. 

The state is also home to a large community of farmers, who are unlikely to offer significant support to the BJP given tension over the MSP, or minimum support price, issue. Sources said the BJP is hoping, instead, to maximise votes from the remaining 80 per cent.

There were also rumours – which might now prove to be true – that Mr Khattar would be re-assigned to a Lok Sabha contest. The two-time former Chief Minister is likely to fight from the Kurukshetra seat that was held by Nayab Saini but will now become vacant.

Mr Khattar’s Lok Sabha bow fits with the BJP’s gameplan in recent elections of fielding big-name leaders for key seats to boost the winnability factor and create a buzz.

Also, Haryana has only 10 Lok Sabha seats and given the BJP’s ruthlessness in replacing sitting MPs to avoid the anti-incumbency bias, there may have been concern this could leave too many disgruntled senior leaders heading for the exit and strengthening rivals.

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