Last Updated: March 12, 2024, 12:38 IST
The tussle between the BJP and the JJP escalated over the Hisar seat since the sitting BJP MP from there, Brijendra Singh, quit the BJP and joined the Congress. (PTI)
Manohar Lal Khattar may continue as the chief minister, while Chautala may lose some JJP MLAs who are keen to jump ship to BJP
The BJP-JJP alliance has split up in Haryana and both chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala have resigned to make way for a new government to be sworn in.
BJP, which has 41 MLAs, has the support of six independents and MLA Gopal Kanda, taking its number to 48, which is above the majority mark of 46 seats. Some JJP MLAs could also support the BJP.
Two senior ministers in Haryana — Kanwar Pal Gujjar and Moolchand Sharma — said Khattar will continue as the chief minister and take oath again. The final word from the BJP is awaited. Khattar is credited with cleaning up the government recruitment system in Haryana over the last nine years and shares a good equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, in the last assembly elections, the BJP had failed to hit the majority mark on its own.
JJP chief Chautala met BJP president JP Nadda on Monday and sought two Lok Sabha seats — Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh — for the upcoming elections. However, the BJP was not interested in giving any Lok Sabha seats as it felt it was in a strong position in both seats. Chautala had won from Hisar Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and is presently the MLA from Uchana Kalan which falls under the Hisar Lok Sabha seat. Dushyant’s father and JJP supremo, Ajay Chautala, was MP from Bhiwani in 1999. JJP claims it has a strong base in both of these seats.
The tussle between the BJP and the JJP escalated over the Hisar seat since the sitting BJP MP from there, Brijendra Singh, quit the BJP and joined the Congress. A BJP source had said JJP may be offered another seat, like Kurukshetra, from where AAP is contesting, but the JJP was insistent on both Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendargarh.
There is also speculation that some JJP MLAs could quit and join the BJP. The JJP, with 10 MLAs, had entered into a post-poll alliance with the BJP to help the latter form the government in Haryana as BJP got only 40 seats in the 2019 elections — six short of the majority mark. BJP, however, has 41 MLAs now plus the support of seven independents in the assembly, taking its strength to 48. Jat votes are an important factor in Haryana politics.
