New Delhi / BJP-JJP to form government together in Haryana, CM to be from BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached an agreement on Friday night to form a coalition government in Haryana with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) of Dushyant Chautala – who emerged as a major swing force in the October 21 assembly elections – and cobbled up the support of independent legislators and smaller formations to cement a second term in office.

A day after emerging as the single largest party in the state assembly, but falling short of a simple majority, incumbent chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is now comfortably poised for a second stint and Chautala seemingly set for the post of deputy CM.

In Maharashtra, the BJP faced a pushback from its ally, the Shiv Sena, which has insisted on a “50-50” power-sharing arrangement, meaning it wants the chief minister’s post for half the five-year term and an equal number of ministerial posts as the senior partner in the incoming coalition cabinet.

The BJP-JJP pact was announced after Chautala met BJP president Amit Shah and working president JP Nadda in New Delhi at the end of a day of fast-moving political developments after the ruling party ended up with 40 seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly, six seats short of a simple majority. The fledgling JJP won 10 seats, and its support would assure the government of a certain degree of stability.

“It was necessary for the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jannayak Janta Party to come together to give the state a stable government,” Chautala, seated alongside the BJP leaders at a 9.30pm news briefing, said. “Our party decided that for the betterment of the state, it is important to have a stable government.”

The 31-year-old Chautala, who formed the JJP after splitting from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), has emerged as a force to reckon with. The October 21 state assembly elections threw up a hung assembly in which the Congress won 31 seats.

Minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur first arrived at the residence of Chautala and took him along in his vehicle to Shah’s residence. There, the JJP chief met Shah and other leaders of the BJP, including Khattar.

“Accepting the mandate by the people of Haryana, the leaders of both parties have decided that the BJP and JJP will form the government together in Haryana. The chief minister will be from the BJP and the deputy CM from the JJP,” the BJP chief said. “The independent MLAs have also extended their support to us.”

Khattar, who is expected to be elected as the party’s legislative leader on Saturday, said that he would meet the Haryana governor the same day to stake his claim for government formation.

Earlier in the day, Chautala had kept his options open for aligning either with the Congress or BJP, insisting that neither party is “untouchable.” “We haven’t spoken to anyone... the key still lies with the JJP for a stable government in Haryana,” Chautala said.

The focus of Haryana politics shifted on Friday to Delhi, where the ruling party was quick to tap all possible sources of support. There are seven independents in the assembly, in which the INLD has one seat; and Gopal Kanda, a controversial leader accused of abetting the suicide of a woman who accused him of harassment, is the sole representative of his party, the Haryana Lokhit Party.

The BJP first focused on winning the support of the smaller players in the state. On Thursday night itself, Kanda flew in to Delhi and is understood to have met Nadda; he officially declared his “unconditional” support to the party, provoking criticism of the BJP by rivals and on social media, and appeals that it should not accept support of a tainted leader. The party kept a distance from him on Friday, and did not comment on its association with Kanda.

But the BJP also reached out to the independents. Five of the winning independent MLAs — Sombir Sangwan from Dadri, Balraj Kundu from Meham, Dharampal Gonder from Nilokheri, Nain Pal Rawat from Prithla and Randhir Gollen from Pundri — are BJP rebels who contested as independents. The remaining two independent MLAs are Ranjit Singh, son of late former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, and younger brother of former chief minister OP Chautala, and Rakesh Daultabad from Badhshahpur.

All seven MLAs took turns to meet Khattar at Haryana Bhawan in Delhi and at Nadda’s residence. “Our support is unconditional,” Nilokeri MLA Gonder said after meeting Khattar at Nadda’s house. “We have given our letter of support,” Dadri MLA Sangwan said.

The BJP is also banking on the support of the sole INLD MLA, Abhay Chautala, Dushyant’s uncle, who has said that he could not align with the Congress “on principle”.

The meeting between Shah, Dushyant Chautala and Khattar took place after the JJP leader opened the door for potential negotiations with partners.

“We will support whichever party agrees to implement our agenda as part of a common minimum programme. The JJP will ally with any party that promises 75% reservation of jobs for Haryanvis in Haryana and continues with pension for senior citizens,” he said at a press conference earlier in the day. A JJP leader had then indicated that along with issues, the party was also seeking a respectable power-sharing deal, including the deputy chief ministership for Chautala.

Even though the JJP’s bargaining power seemingly dipped on Friday as the BJP stitched together the support from the rest, there was a convergence of interest. The BJP wanted the JJP to shore up its numbers and ensure stability; the JJP wanted to be a part of the government.

The Congress made an effort to reach out to Chautala, too, though numbers were stacked against the party. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, credited with the party’s comeback in the state, accepted all of Chautala’s demands, including 75% jobs for Haryana residents, a common minimum programme (CMP) and respectable position in the alliance. But he made it abundantly clear that the Congress will not cede the chief minister’s post. The offer was not taken.

In Maharashtra, the BJP, however, continued to face an aggressive partner, the Shiv Sena, which has made it clear that the mandate merited a “50-50” partnership.

The Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Friday had a headline on its front page, proclaiming that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had the “keys to power” in Maharashtra. An editorial in the newspaper also took a dig at the BJP, saying there was no “maha janadesh” — a dig at chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s “Maha Janadesh Yatra” — and the outcome was in fact a rap on the knuckles for those high on “arrogance of power”.

On Thursday, soon after the results were declared, Thackeray made it clear that he expected the BJP to respect the “50-50” agreement reached before the Lok Sabha elections. This would entail chief ministership by rotation for the Sena — a demand the BJP is unlikely to accept given that it is the single largest party and has projected Fadnavis clearly as the leader of the state.

Political circles in Mumbai are abuzz with speculation about whether the Sena is bargaining hard for a better deal — including a deputy CM position for Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav’s son — or would indeed push the envelope on the issue of leadership. A BJP leader in Delhi said the negotiations in Maharashtra would take some time to sew up a deal.