Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Manohar Lal Khattar has tendered his resignation as Haryana Chief Minister today (March 12) after he met with Governor Bandaru Dattatreya. The Khattar-Cabinet has given a collective resignation to the governor.
Manohar Lal Khattar resigns as CM of Haryana pic.twitter.com/mV311cH8jm
— ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2024
According to reports, Nayab Saini or Sanjay Bhatia may replace him. Preparations have been made for the swearing-in ceremony in the conference room inside Haryana Raj Bhavan.
Union Minister Arjun Munda and BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh have headed to Chandigarh as observers.
It is rumoured that Khattar may be fielded as a candidate in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
This expected action is the result of the state’s coalition between the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being on the brink of a split.
Independent MLA Nayan Pal Rawat on Tuesday, March 12 claimed that the alliance is at a breakpoint but some independent MLAs who support the ML Khattar government will ensure its survival.
“I met the Chief Minister yesterday. We have already extended our support to CM Manohar Lal-led government. We also discussed the strategy for the Lok Sabha elections. I got the impression that the process of breaking the alliance with JJP has already started,” Haryana Independent MLA Nayan Rawat said on Tuesday after he met with the Chief Minister.
Another independent MLA Dharampal Gonder said that the independent MLAs were supporting the BJP-led government.
Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) MLA Gopal Kanda claimed that the alliance between the BJP and the JJP was at a break point but the BJP could win all 10 Lok Sabha seats from the state on its own. He also said that there would be another meeting with the Chief Minister after which the future course of action would be determined.
Amid the ongoing tension between the BJP and JJP in the Haryana government, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar convened a meeting of the BJP and the government-backed Independent MLAs at his Haryana residence at 11:30 am today. Reports suggest that the BJP can formulate a plan during this meeting regarding how to form the government with the help of independent MLAs.
Meanwhile, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) has also called a meeting in Delhi and the discussion will be held at the residence of Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala. Sources also say that the Haryana Deputy Chief Minister returned the government carcade, a sign that the alliance was at break point.
In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP has 41 MLAs, it also enjoys the support of 5 independent MLAs and the HLP MLA Gopal Kanda.
Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won all 10 parliamentary seats while JJP, which had contested the elections in alliance with AAP, could not put up a fight on 7 seats it contested.
The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held sometime between April and May this year.
