Nayab Singh Saini is set to assume the role of the new Chief Minister of Haryana, as announced by the party on Tuesday afternoon. This follows the resignation of his predecessor, senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar, along with the entire cabinet earlier in the day.
Saini, who also serves as the Member of Parliament from Haryana's Kurukshetra and is the state President, is scheduled to be sworn in at 5 pm.
Who is Nayab Singh Saini?
Nayab Singh Saini, sitting MP from Kurukshetra and a member of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, has held the role of Haryana BJP state president since October last year.
Saini's political journey with the BJP began in 1996 when he started working within the organisational structure of the Haryana BJP, alongside the state general secretary until 2000. His rise within the party continued as he took the role of district general secretary of the BJP Youth Wing in Ambala in 2002, subsequently becoming the district president in 2005.
His commitment to the party secured him various key positions over the years. In 2009, he was made state general secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha in Haryana, before being appointed district president of Ambala BJP in 2012.
A turning point in his political career came in 2014, when he won the Legislative Assembly election from the Narayangarh constituency. He later was appointed a minister in the Haryana government in 2016.
Saini, who tasted his first victory as an MLA in 2014 and maintained his ministerial position, is known to be close to Manohar Lal Khattar. Observers have noted that his election and caste seems to have accelerated his elevation to Haryana BJP chief, with Khattar preferring a trusted aide to head the state unit.
In 2019, he successfully defended his seat from Kurukshetra in the Lok Sabha elections, defeating rival Nirmal Singh of the Indian National Congress (INC) with a sizeable margin of over 3.83 lakh votes.
The Saini community, of which he is a part, comprises around 8% of Haryana's population and has a substantial presence in Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Hisar, and Rewari districts.