Assembly / Powered by JJP, Khattar set for 2nd term as Haryana CM

Manohar Lal Khattar, who is all set to become the chief minister of Haryana for the second straight term, will meet governor Satyadev Narayan Arya in Chandigarh on Saturday to stake claim to form the government.

Soon after the election results on Thursday showed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single-largest party but stopped short of simple majority, Khattar reached Delhi at night. He stayed overnight in the national capital to fine-tune the party’s strategy and work out the details of the state government, which has to rely on non-BJP legislators.

The efforts culminated on Friday night, with the BJP announcing an alliance with the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which won 10 of Haryana’s 90 seats and was expected to play a key role in state politics.

The BJP won 40 seats, six seats short of a simple majority and seven fewer that what it won five years ago. The BJP’s decision to win over Chautala underlines its quest to placate Jats, a dominant community in the state who are believed to have voted mostly against the saffron party in the recent polls, to ensure a smooth run of its government.

Earlier in the day, Chautala put forward some conditions for an alliance. At a press conference at his Janpath residence in Delhi, Chautala said, “No one is untouchable for us. 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...” In the morning, Chautala went to meet his father Ajay Chautala in Tihar jail before taking a final decision on party’s course of action.