CHANDIGARH: Manohar Lal Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on Sunday and will lead the BJP-JJP coalition government in the state.
JJP leader Dushyant Chautala took oath as the deputy chief minister.
Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered oath at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan here on Diwali day.
BJP working president J P Nadda, Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union ministers Krishan Pal Gurjar, R L Kataria, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal were present on the occasion.
The BJP had on Friday sealed a deal with the JJP to form the next government in Haryana after the saffron party fell short of six seats from the majority mark.
In the 90-member assembly, a minimum strength of 46 MLAs is required to form the government.
On Saturday, Khattar along with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Haryana BJP President Subhash Barala and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Chautala met Haryana Governor Narain Arya and staked claim to form the government and gave both partys' letters to him.
After staking claim, Khattar said, "We met the governor. I handed my resignation which he accepted and he told me to continue as interim chief minister. He invited us to form the new government and on Sunday CM and Deputy CM will be sworn-in in the afternoon. I will be the Chief Minister and Dushyant will be the deputy CM. We have the support of 57 MLAs (40 BJP, 10 JJP and 7 independents)."
Earlier, Khattar was elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the state. His name was proposed by five-time MLA from Ambala cantonment and state health minister Anil Vij and MLA Kanwar Pal and was seconded by the rest of the MLAs.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP general secretary Arun Singh were present in the meeting.
"We will form a stable and honest government with the support of JJP and independent candidates," said Prasad.
The saffron party will not take the support of controversial Haryana Lokhit Party legislator Gopal Kanda. "We are not be taking any support from him (Kanda),’’ said Prasad.
Meanwhile, sources said that in the new Haryana cabinet, there will be six ministers of the saffron party, one Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant and two ministers (one cabinet rank and one minister of state) from JJP and Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent who left the Congress after he was denied a ticket and won. He is the son of the former chief minister and INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala.
(With ENS Inputs)