Haryana crisis: CM Nayab Saini claims support of 48 MLAs, seeks Assembly session to prove majority

The newly-appointed Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said he has presented a letter of support with the signatures of 48 MLAs and asked Governor Bandaru Dattatreya to convene a special Assembly session on Wednesday so that the BJP government can prove its majority in the House.

“We have urged the governor to convene the assembly session tomorrow when we will prove our majority on the floor of the House,” Saini told reporters in Chandigarh after taking oath as the new Chief Minister and holding his first Cabinet meeting.

Responding to a query about BJP’s numbers to prove majority in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, Saini said, “We gave a letter of support of 48 MLAs to the Governor”.

In Haryana Assembly, BJP has 41 members and is backed by six out of the seven Independent MLAs as well as lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kand.

Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) has 10 MLAs whereas the main opposition Congress has 30.

In the Cabinet meeting, Saini said that a resolution was adopted to thank the work done by the outgoing Khattar government.

“During the past nine-and-a-half years, he (Khattar) gave new direction to Haryana, presented example of good governance. ‘Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek’ was not a mere slogan, but equitable development was carried out. We have worked without discrimination in the spirit of Antyodaya,” Saini said.

Meanwhile, Saini also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah for bestowing him the big responsibility.

“The new responsibility has been entrusted on me. We will work with full dedication and deliver on the expectations of people,” he said.

Saini, the 54-year-old OBC leader, was administered the oath by Haryana government earlier in the day at the Raj Bhawan. Five MLAs – four from the BJP and one independent – were also sworn in as ministers.

This came after the sudden resignation of Khattar and all 13 other members of the BJP-led council of ministers, including Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala.