Haryana: ML Khattar To Take Oath As CM, Dushyant Chautala As Deputy-CM Today

Manohar Lal Khattar is all set to become the chief minister of Haryana for the second straight term. He was expected to be elected the leader of the BJP legislative party in meeting of new MLAs on Saturday. Khattar then met Governor Satyadev Narain Arya in Chandigarh to stake the claim to form the government.

Manohar Lal Khattar will take oath as chief minister at 2.15 pm on Sunday. Khattar confirmed that Dushyant Chautala will take oath as deputy chief minister. He said that BJP is supported by JJP as well as seven Independent candidates.

Khattar's path to return as chief minister was cleared on Friday, with BJP announcing an alliance with the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) late evening. BJP, who won 40 out of Haryana’s 90 seats, needed support of at least 6 more MLAs to reach the majority mark. The Dushyant Chautala-led JJP has won 10 seats. BJP clinched the alliance with JJP by offering it the post of deputy chief minister.

BJP president Amit Shah announced at a press conference held with JJP leader Dushyant Chautala that the chief minister will be from his party and the deputy chief minister from the regional party. Chautala's support came after BJP had already cobbled together a majority with support of one HLP, one INLD and seven Independent MLAs. However, BJP's decision to win over Chautala underlines its quest to placate Jats, a dominant community in the state and who are believed to have voted mostly against the saffron party in the recent polls, to ensure a smooth run of its government.