NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday confirmed that the new BJP government in Haryana will take oath on October 17 in Panchkula.
It said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior BJP leaders and chief ministers of some other states will attend the event.
“We have received the nod of the PM that on October 17, in Panchkula, the CM and council of ministers will take oath,” Khattar said.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the event in Panchkula, a senior official told PTI.
“We are preparing the venue for the event,” Panchkula deputy commissioner (DC) Dr Yash Garg told PTI over phone.
A district-level committee, chaired by the DC, has been formed for making arrangements for the ceremony.
Nayab Singh Saini, who replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister in March and hails from the other backward classes, will take oath as the chief minister of Haryana.
Meanwhile sources said giving representation to all parliamentary constituencies and ensuring a balanced caste combination will be shaping the decision of the party high command on the new council of ministers.
Special focus is likely to be on Jat, Khatri, Brahmin, OBC and SC MLAs for a balanced government, sources added.
Except for former state home minister Anil Vij, who would be entering the assembly for the seventh time, a number of MLAs, including debutants, have started calling on BJP president J P Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah, former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was the party in-charge for Haryana elections along with MP Biplab Deb. On Friday, the party’s Haryana core group, including Pradhan, Deb and Khattar, deliberated on the structuring of the cabinet.
CM Saini, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli and state BJP in-charge Surender Nagar also joined them. Prominent among those who have called on the high command leaders included Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Choudhry and her MLA daughter Shruti Choudhry, Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar, MLAs Laxman Yadav, Mahipal Dhanda and Mool Chand Sharma. Sources said that Panwar and Gangwa are the frontrunners for the speaker’s post. Gangwa was the deputy speaker in the previous government, while Panwar is a SC face and an experienced legislator as well.
Similarly, among the Jat faces, names of Dhanda, Suneel Sangwan and Rai MLA Krishna Gehlawat are doing the rounds. Kalka MLA Shakti Rani Sharma, minister Mool Chand Sharma and Devender Attri, who defeated Brijendra Singh, are strong contenders for Brahmin slots, while Anil Vij, Ghanshyam Dass Arora and Parmod Vij are in the reckoning from the Punjabi community. Arora is a three-time MLA, while Parmod Vij has won the assembly elections twice. Since Saini comes from OBC category, the party may consider one Yadav and two SC MLAs for ministerial berths.
Haryana’s cabinet can have up to 14 ministers, including the chief minister.
In the assembly elections, the BJP secured 48 seats, while the Congress won 37 seats, and the Indian National Lok Dal managed just two seats. Both the Jannayak Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party faced significant losses.