Low-profile OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini replaces BJP strongman ML Khattar

PTI

Chandigarh, March 12

The announcement to pick Nayab Singh Saini as Haryana's next chief minister was sudden and unexpected, but had similarities of element of surprise which the BJP is known for when it had named Manohar Lal Khattar to the post in 2014.

Saini, 54, a low-profile OBC leader, rose through the ranks in the party and was unanimously elected as the leader of the state BJP's legislature group at a meeting held here on Tuesday.

Considered a confidant of Manohar Lal Khattar (69), Saini will be replacing the BJP strongman whose second term as CM was going to end in October.

The surprise move by the ruling BJP came weeks before the Lok Sabha polls are to be held. The Haryana Assembly polls are due in October.

The BJP had in October appointed Saini, belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC), as its Haryana unit president in place of Om Prakash Dhankar.

Earlier on Tuesday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and all his cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya.

Saini's appointment as the state BJP chief in October was seen as the party's move to strengthen its hold over the OBC community and non-Jats.

The support of Jats, who is the most populous community in the state, is largely seen to be divided between the Congress, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Along with these factors, the move to pick Saini as the chief minister is also being seen as a counter to the anti-incumbency perception against the Khattar dispensation.

The population of the Saini community is around eight per cent in Haryana. The community wields influence in many of Haryana's northern districts, including Ambala, Kurukshetra and Hisar besides in a few other districts.

In 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party had formed its government for the first time on its own strength in Haryana, the party had picked Khattar, a first-time MLA from Karnal, as the chief minister.

At that time, Khattar was picked up ignoring senior leaders like Ram Bilas Sharma, Anil Vij, Capt Abhimanyu and OP Dhankar. In the events which unfolded on Tuesday, Saini was picked to succeed Khattar in a similar fashion.

In the outgoing Khattar cabinet, Anil Vij, a six-term MLA, is the seniormost minister.

Saini was born on January 25, 1970 in a village called Mirzapur Majra in Ambala district. A law graduate, he enjoys cordial terms with Khattar, with their relationship going back to their RSS days.

Saini was also a minister in the Khattar cabinet between 2014 and 2019. He was a legislator when he fought the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

In 2019, the BJP was victorious on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana with the party candidates winning with massive margins.

Saini's name as new chief minister was announced after a meeting of BJP MLAs which was held at Haryana Niwas here.

During the past three decades, Saini rose through the ranks in state BJP and also held the position of district president and general secretary of state BJP Kisan Morcha. He was district general secretary of state BJP's youth wing in 2002 for Ambala and became the district president three years later.

He became MLA from Naraingarh assembly segment in 2014, when the BJP came to power in Haryana for the first time on its own strength.

In the 2019 LS polls, Saini had defeated his nearest rival, Congress' Nirmal Singh from the Kurukshetra seat, by a margin of 3,84,591 votes.

Saini, who was a minister in the Khattar cabinet, was fielded in 2019 from Kurukshetra seat after sitting MP RK Saini rebelled. 

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#BJP #Manohar Lal Khattar #Nayab Singh Saini