NEW DELHI, Mar 13: New Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday cleared a floor test aimed at proving that the BJP ministry had majority status in the assembly even after breaking ties with Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP).
“I come from a humble family background, no one is in politics in my family. I am just a party worker of the BJP and today I have been given such a big opportunity. I must say that this can be possible only in a party like the BJP,” Mr Saini said in the State Assembly.
“I have learnt everything from scratch from former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. I have learnt even the minutest things from him and how to maintain them,” he added.
Haryana witnessed a swift change of government over the past 48 hours, with senior BJP leader Mr Khattar and the entire cabinet, which included three from the JJP, quitting Tuesday.
The proximate cause of the break-up of Mr Khattar’s government was the failure of the BJP-JJP alliance, which was formed after the 2019 Assembly election, in which the former emerged as the single-largest party but fell six seats short of an outright majority.
Mr Saini was chosen as the new chief minister after the surprise resignation Mr Khattar. Mr Saini said, “Manohar Lal is a “saint” and he has given a lot to Haryana, strengthened it and it was his thinking that weaker sections and poor should get benefits at their doorsteps.” Saini said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme in 2015 and added the BJP government in the state took it as a pledge to ensure success of the programme.
(Manas Dasgupta)