Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his Cabinet ministers resigned on Tuesday after meeting Governor Bandaru Dattareya hours after the speculation of a split in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s alliance with Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). The cabinet comprised 14 ministers, including Manohar Lal Khattar and three members of the Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala-led JJP. All have resigned.
The resignations of Manohar Lal Khattar and his cabinet ministers in Haryana have come as the BJP’s ties with the JJP is headed for a split ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Does it affect the BJP’s prospects in the coming polls?
To understand this, let’s go back to 2019 elections. To stitch a majority after the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP struck an alliance with Dushyant Chautala post the 2019 elections after it fell short of five seats. The BJP had won 41 seats, five short of reaching the majority mark in the 90-member Assembly, while Dushyant Chautala’s JJP bagged 10 seats.
Post the elections, the BJP, however, also enjoyed support from seven independent MLAs, who pledged their support to the saffron party, and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) MLA Gopal Kanda. Despite the JJP’s exit from the Haryana alliance government following Manohar Lal Khattar’s resignation as the chief minister, the situation unfolds no discernible impact on the BJP as it maintains its position above the majority mark with the backing of Independent MLAs.
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT CHIEF MINISTER OF HARYANA?
Since the BJP can still form a government with the support of the Independent MLAs and HLP’s Gopal Kanda, it is highly likely that Manohar Lal Khattar will again take oath as the Haryana chief minister. According to the reports, the BJP is in the middle of a huddle to form the government in the evening with the backing of the Independent MLAs, with some might be accommodated in the Cabinet.
PTI has quoted sources as saying that a new Cabinet is likely to be sworn in at the oath taking ceremony later in the day.
There is also speculation that five JJP MLAs may crossover to the BJP, strengthening the saffron party. The five names doing rounds include: Jogi Ram Sihag, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Ramniwas and Devinder Babli.
On being asked about who will be the next chief minister, senior BJP Leader Kanwar Pal Gujjar said, “The CM will continues to be the CM.”
WHY ARE JJP AND BJP SPILLTING UP?
The alliance between the BJP and the JJP has been at a breaking point after differences over seat-sharing in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024. The BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections and the JJP had won none.
This Lok Sabha elections, which is weeks away, both the JJP and the BJP said they would contest the polls alone. According to the sources, the JJP asked for two seats in the Lok Sabha elections but the BJP is willing to give just one and contest the other nine.
Opposition Congress has 30 MLAs and the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party have one seat each.
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Published: 12 Mar 2024, 01:23 PM IST