Nayab Singh Saini chosen as leader of BJP legislature party in Haryana, to take oath as CM tomorrow

Nayab Singh Saini

Nayab Singh Saini was on Thursday chosen as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party in Haryana, paving the way for him to become the state's next chief minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are likely to attend the oath-taking event on Thursday.

Saini's name was proposed by senior BJP leader Krishan Bedi during a meeting of newly elected Haryana BJP MLAs at the party's office in Panchkula.

In the recently concluded Assembly election, the BJP emerged victorious having won in 48 seats in the 90-member Assembly. The Haryana Assembly election results were among the closest in recent history in terms of vote share. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 39.94% vote share.

The Congress was just marginally behind in vote share (39.09%), but won only 37 seats. While the BJP outperformed the Congress in terms of vote share in urban and semi-urban areas, the Congress outshone the BJP in the State’s semi-rural and rural areas.

The meeting was attended by Union home minister Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav, who served as central observers. Other prominent leaders present included Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana BJP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, and co-incharge Biplab Deb.

Saini had replaced Manohar Lal Khattar, now a Union Minister, as the chief minister of Haryana in March. He was seen then as a surprise pick to head the party in the heartland state, particularly with a general and Assembly election on the horizon.