Haryana govt formation: Nayab Singh Saini likely to take oath as CM on October 15

Nayab Singh Saini is likely to take oath as the Chief Minister of Haryana on October 15. A 10-member committee has been formed by the chief secretary to oversee the oath-taking ceremony arrangements.

The committee will be headed by the Panchkula District Commissioner, News18 reported citing sources. Efforts for government formation in Haryana began with Saini meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Delhi. 

He also met Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was the BJP's election in-charge for Haryana, in the national capital. Haryana can have a maximum of 14 ministers in its Cabinet, including the Chief Minister. 

Among the Dalit BJP leaders who could be considered for ministerial berths are Krishan Lal Panwar and Krishan Kumar. Panwar, who is a Rajya Sabha member, won from the Israna seat. Krishan Kumar, a former MLA, won from the Narwana assembly seat. 

Senior leader Rao Narbir Singh, who won from Badshahpur, and Om Prakash Yadav, who won from Narnaul, are also in contention for ministerial berths, as per sources. 

Among other leaders in contention are Anil Vij (Ambala Cantt), Shruti Choudhry (Tosham), Arti Singh Rao (Ateli), Jagmohan Anand (Karnal), Ghanshyam Dass (Yamunanagar), Krishan Lal Middha (Jind), Shyam Singh Rana (Radaur), Vipul Goel (Gurugram), Harvnider Kalyan (Gharaunda), Nikhil Madaan (Sonipat) and Arvind Kumar Sharma (Gohana). 

In a first, the BJP is all set to form the government in the northern state for the third time. The BJP bagged 48 seats, the Congress 37 and the Indian National Lok Dal just 2 seats.

The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were completely decimated in Haryana. In the recently conducted Haryana assembly polls, Saini fought from the Ladwa assembly constituency and won by a margin of more than 16,000 votes. 

During the election campaign, the BJP indicated that Saini will be its choice for the top post if it wins in Haryana. Nayab Singh Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar in March this year, months ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024. He hails from the Other Backward Classes (OBC).