BJP seals deal; Dushyant to be Khattar’s deputy
NEW DELHI: The suspense over government formation in Haryana which threw up a fractured mandate is finally over.
The BJP will form the government in Haryana in partnership with Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), Union Home Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah announced on Friday.
“Keeping in mind the mandate of the people, leaders of BJP and JJP have decided that the two parties will form a government in Haryana together. The Chief Minister will be from the BJP, and the deputy chief minister will be from JJP,” Amit Shah announced at a news briefing, flanked by Haryana Chief Minis
ter Manohar Lal Khattar and Dushyant Chautala.
The announcement came at the end of a meeting at Shah’s residence between the two sides where the power sharing arrangement was finalised.
Top BJP leaders moved swiftly since Thursday night to cobble together a majority in the 90-member Haryana Assembly after the party’s
tally fell to 40 in the state, six short of the majority mark. Seven independent MLAS also pledged their support to the party.
The BJP’S decision to win over Chautala underlines its quest to appease 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.
Declaring that the people of Haryana have rejected the BJP, the Congress on Friday accused the saffron party of using allurements of money and power to get a majority. It said a government formed through such means would be “illegitimate”.
The BJP was attacked by not just the Congress but also its own party leader Uma Bharti over reports involving Gopal Kanda who had pledged his unconditional support to the BJP saying all independent MLAS would back it.