The newly appointed Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday won the confidence motion through a voice vote in the Assembly.

The BJP had on Tuesday appointed OBC leader Saini as Chief Minister replacing Manohar Lal Khattar. The BJP’s alliance with Jannayak Janata Party (JPP) ended after differences over seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, as the Jat dominated regional party was demanding two Lok Sabha seats which the BJP was not willing to offer. The BJP had won all the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies on its own in the 2019 elections.

After a two-hour discussion on the motion in the House, Saini, who is an MP from Kurukshetra and state party president, won the trust of the Assembly comfortably. The JJP, interestingly, issued a whip asking its 10 legislators to abstain from the House to avoid voting on the confidence motion. But, when the trust vote was taken up, five of its MLAs left the House.

On Tuesday, Saini met Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and gave a list of 48 MLAs, which included 41 from the BJP and six Independents, to stake claim to form the government. The majority mark in the Assembly is 46.

‘A party worker’

Earlier, speaking in the Assembly on the trust vote, Saini was effusive about Khattar and the BJP for his rise in politics. “I come from a humble family background, no one is in politics in my family. I am just a party worker of the BJP and today I have been given such a big opportunity. I must say that this can be possible only in a party like the BJP,” Saini told the House.

A close confidant of the former CM, Saini said, “I have learnt everything from scratch from former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. I have learnt even the minutest things from him and how to maintain them.” Khattar announced in the Assembly that he was resigning from Karnal Assembly seat and Saini will take over its responsibility. Khattar is likely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Saini said he has always done what his party wanted him to do and recalled his previous tenure as an MLA from 2014-2019. “When I was the MLA from 2014-2019, I was told that I had to contest the Lok Sabha polls. At that time, I was a Minister in the Haryana government. When the party desired, I contested the Lok Sabha polls then. When the party entrusted me with the new responsibility, I am here to take up the latest assignment,” he said.

Five MLAs, four from the BJP -- Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Jai Parkash Dalal, Moolchand Sharma, and Banwari Lal and independent MLA Ranjit Kumar -- took oath as ministers in the Haryana government.

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