Cracks In BJP-JJP Alliance: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Cabinet Resign

Chandigarh: Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his Cabinet colleagues resigned on Tuesday following a breakdown of ties between the ruling BJP and Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) over seat-sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Governor Bandaru Dattatreya has also accepted the resignations of Khattar and his Cabinet.

According to sources, there would be no JJP representative in the new Haryana Cabinet, which along with the CM is likely to take oath later in the day. The BJP, however, clarified that there will be “no change in the CM’s face”.

“I think when the oath ceremony takes place today, Manohar Lal Khattar will take oath as CM again. I don’t want to comment on why this alliance (with JJP) broke. This is the decision of the party high command. Observers are coming and if they ask us, our support is with Manohar Lal Khattar and he will take oath as CM for the third time and then later after the assembly elections, he will take oath for the fourth time…,” Haryana BJP MLA Krishan Lal Middha told ANI.

The saffron party, which has 41 MLAs in the 90-member Assembly, is likely to form a new government with six Independent legislators and one from the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), accommodating a few in the Cabinet. At least four JJP MLAs are also likely to walk out of the party, The Indian Express reported quoting sources.

A party or an alliance can form the government in the state if it has 46 or more seats.