Haryana News: New CM Nayab Singh Saini Wins Floor Test, Khattar Resigns As Karnal MLA; Suspense Over Dy CM

The floor-test came amid signs that the BJP-Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) alliance in the state might have ended, though there has been no formal announcement yet.

Meanwhile, the deputy chief minister post in Haryana still remains vacant after state BJP chief Nayab Singh Saini was on Tuesday sworn in as new chief minister, following the surprise resignation of Manohar Lal Khattar from the post along with his cabinet ministers.

Five MLAs -- four from the BJP and one independent -- were also sworn in as ministers.

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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manohar Lal Khattar resigned as Haryana CM on Tuesday amid reports that he might be fielded for the Lok Sabha polls from Karnal and amid the ruling BJP-JJP coalition coming apart over failed seat-sharing talks, a development that party leaders from both sides did not make immediate comment on.

Haryana Politcs News Latest Updates

Manohar Lal Khattar resigns as MLA of Karnal: Amid speculation that he may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Karnal, former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday announced he was resigning as a member of the state Assembly.

Khattar, who represented the Karnal seat, said newly appointed Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will take care of the constituency.

"During the past nine-and-a-half years, I have served as the Leader of the House. I will serve the people of Haryana till my last breath," news agency PTI quoted Khattar as saying.

-Nayab Singh Saini Wins Floor Test: Nayab Singh Saini won the floor test in the special Haryana assembly session that convened on Wednesday he sought to prove the majority of the new BJP government, a day after the saffron party broke ties with its ally in the state - Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday moved confidence motion in Assembly. CM Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday said they presented a letter of support of 48 MLAs to the governor and asked him to convene an assembly session on Wednesday so that the BJP government can prove its majority in the House.

Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs Devender Singh Babli, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Ram Niwas and Jogi Ram Sihag left the House when the issue of trust vote was taken up. Their party on Wednesday issued a whip, asking its 10 legislators to remain absent from the House during voting on the confidence motion.

Saini took oath as chief minister on Tuesday hours after the surprise resignation of Manohar Lal Khattar from the post along with his cabinet ministers.

"We have urged the governor to convene the assembly session tomorrow when we will prove our majority on the floor of the House," Saini told reporters on Tuesday after assuming charge and holding a meeting of his cabinet.

When asked how many MLAs are in support of the government, Saini, who is also Haryana BJP chief, said, "We gave a letter of support of 48 MLAs to the governor."

In the 90-member state assembly, the BJP has 41 members, and it also enjoys support of six of the seven independents as well as of lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda. The JJP has 10 MLAs in the House.

ALSO READ | BJP's Nayab Singh Saini Takes Oath As Haryana CM As Khattar Resigns Amid BJP-JJP Split - All That Happened

-Suspense Over Deputy CM: Nayab Saini, the 54-year-old OBC leader, was administered oath by Governor Bandaru Dattatreya at the oath-taking ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh.

BJP's Kanwar Pal, Mool Chand Sharma, Jai Prakash Dalal and Banwari Lal and Independent MLA Ranjit Singh Chautala took oath as ministers. All the five were ministers in the outgoing Khattar cabinet.

Amid questions over the next deputy chief minister, former home minister and six-term MLA from Ambala Cantt, Anil Vij, has not found a place in the new cabinet. Besides Vij, BJP legislators Kamal Gupta, Om Prakash Yadav, Kamlesh Dhanda, and Sandeep Singh did not find their names in the Saini-led cabinet. Dushyant Chautala, Davinder Babli and Anoop Dhanak of JJP were other ministers in the Khattar cabinet.

Vij, who is learnt to be sulking , was not present at the oath-taking ceremony. After the party meeting here, he headed straight to his Ambala residence.

The names of Anil Vij and Bhavya Bishnoi have surfaced for the post of Haryana deputy chief minister.

-Manohar Lal Khattar's Resignation: Manohar Lal Khattar and all 13 other members of the BJP-led council of ministers submitted their resignations to the governor as a team of the party's central observers arrived in Chandigarh.

The switch in Haryana came amid the ruling BJP-JJP coalition coming apart, though party leaders from both sides did not make immediate comment.

The development to bring in a new face as chief minister by the BJP came just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and amid speculation that Khattar might be fielded from Karnal for the polls.

Khattar's second term as chief minister was also to end in October, when the assembly polls are due.

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala was the deputy chief minister and there were two other members of his party in the Khattar-led government.

Four JJP MLAs -- Jogi Ram Sihag, Ishwar Singh, Davinder Babli, and Ram Niwas Surjakhera -- were also present at the oath-taking function where Nayab Singh Saini was sworn-in as the chief minister on Tuesday.