BJP's Nayab Singh Saini, 54, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Haryana at a rapidly-assembled ceremony in Chandigarh on Tuesday evening, capping a frenetic few hours triggered by the resignation this morning of his predecessor, Manohar Lal Khattar, and the entire cabinet.
Saini, seen as a confidante of the 69-year-old Khattar, bent to touch his feet twice, and was hugged in return. n addition to Saini, the BJP's JP Dalal, Moolchand Sharma, Banwari Lal, and Kanwar Pal Gurjar - all from the old cabinet - took oath as ministers.
In an equally significant move, outgoing Home Minister Anil Vij has been dropped. The new government will be backed by six independent lawmakers and, potentially, five from the JJP of now ex-Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, who are set to cross but are not expected to get cabinet berths. The BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House, in which the majority mark is set at 46. A floor test is scheduled for Wednesday.
Khattar's stepping down - and that of his ministers - followed a breakdown of the ruling BJP-JJP alliance over failed seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha election. However, the swapping of a chief minister has also been seen as another chapter in the BJP's well-worn election playbook.
In the past, the party has changed out chief ministers, and reshuffled cabinets before Assembly elections to ward off the anti-incumbency factor and rejuvenate state units and leaders. This was the tactic before polls in Gujarat and Uttarakhand, which the party won, and Karnataka, which it lost.