OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday took oath as the chief minister of Haryana at a ceremony in Panchkula attended by a galaxy of NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and thousands of people from across the state.
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy to Saini, who became the chief minister for the second time, at Dussehra ground here.
The BJP’s choice of the day for the swearing-in ceremony is significant as it is Valmiki Jayanti. Sage-poet Valmiki is the author of the Hindu epic Ramayana and a revered figure, especially among Dalits.
All newly inducted ministers except Choudhary took oath in Hindi. Choudhary took oath in English. Each MLA greeted PM Modi after taking oath.
Haryana can have a maximum of 14 ministers, including the chief minister.
Several leaders including Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Chirag Paswan, and BJP president J P Nadda attended the ceremony and were seated on the stage.
Chief ministers of a number of BJP-ruled states also attended the ceremony. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami were among those present.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula. He told reporters that the new BJP government will work towards taking Haryana forward at a rapid pace under the leadership of PM Modi. The people of Haryana have shown faith in the Modi government’s policies, he said on the assembly poll results.
In the recently concluded assembly polls, the BJP secured an unprecedented third term in Haryana, winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. Three Independents, including Hisar MLA Savitri Jindal, have also extended support to the party.
In a departure from tradition, the BJP had declared that Saini would remain chief minister if the party returned to power in Haryana after the assembly polls.
Saini, an OBC face of the party, had replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the chief minister of Haryana in March. He won the Ladwa assembly seat in Kurukshetra district by a margin of 16,054 votes.