After nearly a decade in office, Manohar Lal Khattar on March 12 resigned as the chief minister of Haryana following BJP's decision to end its alliance with JJP.
Haryana BJP president and Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini is set to replace Khattar, in line with the saffron party's recent trend of going with a new line of leadership in several states.
Khattar, who is a two-time MLA from Karnal, won his maiden election in 2014 by a margin of 63,736 votes. In 2019, he managed to hold on to power after the BJP formed a post-poll alliance with Dushyant Chautala-led JJP.
But with Khattar now stepping aside as the chief minister, speculations are rife about his future role in the party.
Reports suggest that he may be given a national role like former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan.
Chouhan had stepped aside to make way for Mohan Yadav in MP after BJP's landslide victory last year. In the first list, BJP announced that Chouhan will contest the general election from Vidisha, a constituency he represented from 1991 to 2005.
According to reports, BJP could field Khattar from the Kurukshetra or Karnal constituency in Haryana in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party is due to release its second list of candidates.
According to a report in The Times of India, a section of Haryana BJP workers had sought leadership change in the state, similar to what happened in states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Notably, assembly elections are due in Haryana in October or November this year.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on Khatter, calling him as his "old partner".
PM Modi also recalled their days together as "pracharaks" and revealed that Khattar used to take him around Haryana on a bike. His remarks were seen as an endorsement for Khattar amid disquiet within Haryana BJP.
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