Shortly after the resignation of Manohar Lal Khattar and other BJP ministers in anticipation of a Cabinet reshuffle, Nayab Singh Saini, the BJP state president and MP from Kurukshetra, took the oath as the new Haryana Chief Minister. Alongside him, BJP leaders Kanwar Pal Gujjar and Moolchand Sharma, along with Independent MLA Ranjit Singh, were sworn in as ministers during the ceremony.

Nishan Singh, the chief of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana, informed reporters that the party's meeting outcomes will be communicated to the public at a Nav Sankalp rally scheduled for Wednesday in Hisar.

The BJP-JJP alliance has faced tensions during discussions over seat allocation for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP resisting the JJP's request for 2 out of the 10 constituencies in Haryana. Presently, of the 90 seats in the Haryana Assembly, the BJP commands 41, while the JJP holds 10. The Congress retains 30 seats. Additionally, there are 7 Independent MLAs, and one each representing the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Haryana Lokhit Party.

Nayab Singh Saini, an influential figure within the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, currently serves as the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament for Kurukshetra under the BJP banner.

Last October, he assumed the role of state president for the Haryana BJP, a position of significant political clout. Saini's close association with Khattar, whose second consecutive term as Chief Minister concludes this year, underscores his prominence within the party hierarchy.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Saini secured victory in the Kurukshetra constituency by an impressive margin of over 3.83 lakh votes, defeating his closest rival, Nirmal Singh of the Indian National Congress (INC).

The BJP's appointment of Nayab Singh Saini as Haryana chief minister reflects its strategic move to strengthen support among the OBC and counter opposition efforts to erode its voter base before the Lok Sabha elections.

This decision follows a similar move in Madhya Pradesh, where Mohan Yadav replaced Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The trend underscores the BJP's response to opposition parties' attempts to court OBC communities, particularly in Hindi-speaking states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, through initiatives like a caste census.

Image source: ANI