Janjivan Bureau / Chandigarh : Haryana BJP president and OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini was on Tuesday picked as the next chief minister, hours after Manohar Lal Khattar and his cabinet ministers submitted their resignations.
Saini, who is an MP from Kurukshetra, was unanimously elected as the leader of the state BJP legislature group and will be sworn in later in the day, party MLAs Subhash Sudha and JP Dalal told reporters.
As soon as Saini’s name was proposed, Home Minister Anil Vij left the meeting. He is unlikely to come back as a minister in the new Cabinet, said sources.
A new Cabinet would be sworn in at the oath-taking ceremony to be held at the governor’s residence later in the day.
The surprise development in Chandigarh comes just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Khattar’s second term as chief minister was also to end in October, when the assembly polls are due.
Khattar and all 13 other members of the BJP-led council of ministers submitted their resignations to the Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya – apparently at the directions of the BJP’s central leadership.
Shortly after this, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs headed to a meeting of the party’s legislature group, which unanimously picked Saini as its leader.
Meanwhile, Mohan Singh Badoli, Rai MLA, is likely to be inducted as minister.
Anil Vij is not present at the oath-taking ceremony. The breakaway JJP group has arrived for the oath ceremony.
