Nayab Singh Saini takes oath as Haryana CM, replaces ML Khattar 

Haryana BJP president Nayab Singh Saini, who was unanimously elected as leader of the party's state legislature group, took oath as chief minister on Tuesday. Kanwar Pal Gujjar and Mool Chand Sharma, who served in the Khattar government, were also inducted as ministers in the Saini government.  

BJP's Jai Parkash Dalal and Banwari Lal took oath as ministers. Independent MLA Ranjit Singh has also been inducted as minister.

Saini is considered a close confidante of Khattar, who resigned as chief minister earlier on Tuesday. Khattar's second term as chief minister was going to end in October. Saini is the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) from Kurukshetra. In 2019, Saini had defeated Congress' Nirmal Singh by over 3.8 lakh votes.   

The surprise move by the ruling BJP came weeks before the Lok Sabha elections. The Haryana assembly polls are due in October. BJP's Thanesar MLA Subhash Sudha and J P Dalal, who held the agriculture portfolio, said Saini was unanimously elected as the leader of the state BJP's legislature party. 

Khattar and his cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on Tuesday. The development came amid speculation of cracks emerging in the state's ruling BJP and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) coalition over seat-sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. 

The cabinet comprised 14 ministers, including Khattar and three members of Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala-led JJP. 

The BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House while the JJP has 10. However, some reports suggest that 5 of 10 JJP MLAs have backed the BJP. The ruling combine also enjoys the support of six of seven independents.

With 46 MLAs needed for the majority, the BJP is comfortably placed even if it will not have JJP support. The main opposition Congress has 30 MLAs and the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party have one seat each.