Khattar sworn in as Haryana CM for second time, Dushyant as his deputy

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, October 27

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manohar Lal Khattar was sworn in as chief minister for the second time on Sunday, after successful negotiations with the Jannayak Janata Party ensured he had the mandated numbers in the 90-member assembly.

JJP’s Dushyant Chautala was sworn in as deputy chief minister—a position the party bargained for when it negotiated a deal with the BJP.  

Satyadev Narayan Arya administered the oaths. Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, and BJP working president JP Nadda attended the ceremony. Veteran politician Ajay Chautala, Dushyant Chautala's father and founder of the JJP, also attended the ceremony, as did his mother Naina Chautala, who was recently re-elected as an MLA for the second time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated both leaders in a tweet. 

"Congratulations to @mlkhattar Ji and @Dchautala on taking oath as CM and Deputy CM of Haryana. Best wishes to them as they work to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Haryana," his tweet said. 

Ajay Chautala, who's serving time in Tihar Jail for his role in a teachers' recruitment scam, was recently released on a 14-day furlough.  

Khattar, whose BJP secured 41 seats—five short of the 46 required to form government—negotiated a deal with JJP on Friday. JJP, a party that Chautala founded with his father Ajay Chautala and brother Digvijay in December last year after breaking away from the Indian National Lok Dal, has 10 seats.

Assembly elections on October 21 had thrown up a fractured mandate—BJP got 41 seats, Congress 31, JJP 10, and others, including the INLD, were left with eight.