Haryana assembly polls likely with Lok Sabha; Khattar resigns as CM

New Delhi: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his cabinet ministers on Tuesday submitted their resignations to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, sources said.

The development came amid speculation of cracks emerging in the state's ruling BJP and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) coalition over seat sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs, the sources said.

Sources informed that the BJP is in the position to form the government with a new face as a chief minister with the support from independent MLAs if BJP central leadership decides to field Khattar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, sources said that the state can go to elections along with the Lok Sabha polls as BJP actively explores ‘one nation, one poll’.

The plan is to outfox the BJP’s opponents with this strategically bold political move.

It is understood that the top saffron party leadership is supremely confident about its prospects in the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls scheduled for later this year in Haryana. And the saffron leadership does not want to have a seat-sharing agreement with the JJP, as it would mean also giving up a few Lok Sabha seats for the ally, sources said.

The thought in the saffron unit is that even if the BJP falls short by a little bit in the Assembly seat outcome, it would still be able to engineer an alliance with JJP or independents.

The BJP will aim to garner as many seats as it can win in Haryana on its own. The need for strengthening its own organisation and getting its own MPs and MLAs elected in the state is being emphasised, sources added.

Moreover, the saffron leadership also feels that by not going into the polls as an alliance partner of the JJP it would also be able to put pressure and split the Jat votes which could work to BJP’s advantage.

The Jat voters would need to select between JJP, Indian National Lok Dal and Congress candidates in each constituency, ensuring a split in votes.

With most Assembly poll results decided on an advantage of just a few thousand votes this split could ensure a good show and comeback of the BJP in the Lok Sabha as well as Assembly polls, sources pointed out.

Jats are one of the castes that has not backed the BJP in Haryana due to its consolidation of non-Jat castes over the past decade and the rule of Manohar Lal Khattar government in the state. The consolidation of non-Jat votes was used by the saffron unit to ride to victory in 2014 and 2019 state legislative Assembly polls.

With about 27 per cent population and a strong hold over land and government jobs, Jats are considered to be one of the most dominant communities in the state and can have an effect on the electoral outcome of about 50 Assembly constituencies and at least seven Lok Sabha constituencies.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a third term, the BJP can ill afford to lose the crucial state. While the BJP had secured seven out of the ten Lok Sabha seats in 2014, Haryana had given all 10 seats to the saffron unit in 2019. And the BJP hopes to repeat its 100 per cent strike rate in Haryana in 2024 by resolving this leadership crisis well in time.

It must also be recalled that the BJP had secured 49 seats in the 2014 Haryana Assembly polls, forming its first-ever government in the state under Khattar. However, the BJP had to ally with the JJP in 2019 after its seats fell short of the halfway mark due to rebel candidates.

Currently, the 90-member Haryana Legislative Assembly has BJP 40, JJP 10 and Congress 31 members. The other seats are held by INLD and Independents.

The BJP strategists hope that the party can complete a hat-trick of wins in Haryana, in both Lok Sabha and Assembly, if it goes without an alliance in the two forthcoming polls.