Days after securing a dominant victory in the Haryana assembly elections, BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini is set to be sworn in as the state’s new Chief Minister. The ceremony is scheduled to take place in Panchkula on October 15th, according to reports from The Indian Express. Preparations are in full swing at the venue, as confirmed by a senior official to PTI. While the official announcement of the date is yet to be made, news agencies report that the BJP government in Haryana will likely take the oath in Panchkula on October 15th.
Panchkula’s Deputy Commissioner (DC), Dr. Yash Garg, confirmed that preparations are underway for the event. A district-level committee is overseeing all arrangements for the Haryana CM oath-taking ceremony. Saini’s appointment marks his second stint as Chief Minister, having previously taken over in March this year after the resignation of former CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Saini, a member of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), had been tipped as a potential successor by the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections.
The party, in its strategic planning, considered various factors such as caste and regional equations before finalizing the cabinet composition ahead of the oath-taking ceremony, as reported by PTI. Saini recently met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders in Delhi. He also met with Union Minister and BJP’s election in-charge for Haryana, Dharmendra Pradhan, in the national capital. According to PTI, Prime Minister Modi and other prominent party leaders are expected to attend the ceremony. However, The Indian Express has indicated that confirmation of PM Modi’s presence on that date is still pending.
The BJP defied the conventional anti-incumbency factor in the state, securing a resounding victory in the Haryana Assembly elections with 48 seats. This victory represents a gain of 11 seats compared to the Congress. The BJP also managed to surpass exit poll predictions, which had favored a comfortable win for the Congress. Apart from Congress’s unexpected performance, the JJP and AAP suffered significant losses. The INLD managed to secure only two seats in the elections.
