The BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini, 54, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Haryana at a rapidly-assembled ceremony in Chandigarh Tuesday evening, capping a frenetic few hours triggered by the resignation this morning of his predecessor, Manohar Lal Khattar, and the entire cabinet.

In a significant gesture, Mr Saini – seen as a confidante of the 69-year-old ML Khattar – bent to touch his feet twice, and was hugged in return. And, in addition to Mr Saini, the BJP’s JP Dalal, Moolchand Sharma, Banwari Lal, and Kanwar Pal Gurjar, and independent MLA Ranjit Singh, took oath as ministers. In an equally significant move, outgoing Home Minister Anil Vij has been dropped.

All ministers sworn in today are from the old cabinet, 

The new government will be backed by six independent lawmakers and, potentially, five from the JJP of now ex-Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, who are set to cross but are not expected to get cabinet berths. The BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House, in which the majority mark is set at 46.

Mr Khattar’s stepping down – and that of his ministers – followed a breakdown of the ruling BJP-JJP alliance over failed seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha election. However, the swapping of a chief minister has also been seen as another chapter in the BJP’s well-worn election playbook.

READ | Who Is Nayab Saini: 5 Facts On New Haryana Chief Minister

In the past, the party has changed out chief ministers, and reshuffled cabinets before Assembly elections to ward off the anti-incumbency factor and rejuvenate state units and leaders. This was the tactic before polls in Gujarat and Uttarakhand, which the party won, and Karnataka, which it lost.

The selection of Mr Saini – an influential Other Backward Classes leader – also represents the BJP’s focus on caste and OBC equations in each state before an election. The BJP made similar moves in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh (this was after it won the elections).

READ | Nayab Saini To Be New Haryana Chief Minister After ML Khattar Quits

In the first instance, it replaced four-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and, in the second, in Rajasthan, opted against bringing back former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

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Mr Khattar is a two-time Chief Minister of Haryana and his term was to expire in October.

Another likely factor in picking Mr Saini to be the new Chief Minister is that his community accounts for an estimated eight per cent of the state population, with sizeable populations in the Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Hisar and Rewari districts. Mr Saini is the Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra.

Haryana’s political landscape was thrown into flux this morning after Mr Khattar’s resignation, with a several rumours doing the rounds, including one that he will make his Lok Sabha election debut.

There was speculation Mr Khattar would be fielded either from Karnal (held by the BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia) or Mr Saini’s Kurukshetra seat. It now appears he will be given the ticket for the latter.

The BJP-JJP alliance in Haryana – formed after the 2019 Assembly election – seemed to be running smoothly till roadblocks over seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha poll. The JJP wanted two seats but the BJP would only give one; in 2019 the JJP contested and lost seven seats and the BJP won all 10.

The JJP has said it will contest all 10 seats on its own; the party will hold a rally in Hisar district, at which JJP boss Dushyant Chautala is expected to announce details of that campaign.

Immediately after Mr Saini was sworn in, Mr Chautala posted on X (formerly Twitter), thanking the people of Haryana for the “opportunity to serve as Deputy Chief Minister”.

“Your support and cooperation for the welfare of Haryana… has always energised me. With limited time, and limited numbers, we worked day and night to protect Haryana’s interests,” he said.

सभी हरियाणावासियों को मेरा नमस्कार।

आपने मुझे हरियाणा के उपमुख्यमंत्री के रूप में प्रदेश की सेवा करने का अवसर दिया इसको मैं अपना सौभाग्य मानता हूँ और हरियाणा के प्रत्येक व्यक्ति का दिल की ग़हराइयों से आभार प्रकट करता हूँ। हरियाणा के हित और जनता के कार्यों के लिए आपका समर्थन और…

— Dushyant Chautala (@Dchautala) March 12, 2024

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Haryana may have only 10 Lok Sabha seats, but it is a Hindi heartland state and is therefore a crucial battleground for the BJP. This is particularly so since Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s party set itself a target of 370 Lok Sabha seats (on its own) and 400 with National Democratic Alliance members.

The Congress, meanwhile, has hit out at the BJP. Former state unit boss, Selja Kumari, slammed the party for “roaming all over the country making alliances” but failing to properly govern Haryana.

“They should explain why the alliance broke. You are roaming all over the country, making alliances with parties… but you have been in power in Haryana for five years and the people have seen your lack of governance. The only alternative is Congress,” she told news agency ANI.

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The BJP is towing a fine line in Haryana ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, sending multiple messages through the change in in the top post. Sources said the change made it necessary for the whole cabinet — including Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala of JJP  to resign — which was what the party was aiming for.

The BJP and JJP (Jannayak Janata Party) had fallen out over seat sharing in the state. While the BJP wanted to contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats, the JJP, which failed to win any in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, wanted at least two seats.

But an open break-up with JJP or sacking of Mr Chautala from the cabinet would have sent a wrong message to Jats, a substantial chunk of the state’s population.

The BJP, sources said, chose to take a roundabout way.

A second set of message was sent through the choice of state BJP chief Nayab Saini, a strong leader of the Other Backward castes, to fill the shoes of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar — one that showed the party supporting the non-Jats as well.

Chaudhary Birendra Singh’s son and BJP MP from Hisar Brijendra Chaudhary joining the Congress last week is also linked to this, sources said.

Around 20 per cent of Haryana’s population are Jats, the rest belong to other communities.

Mr Saini, the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra, will take oath at 5 pm today.

Assembly elections in the state will be held on time — there is no need to hold simultaneous polls with the Lok Sabha election, sources said.

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday complied with the Supreme Court’s order by submitting electoral bond data to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The SC had set a deadline for disclosure, and the bank had sought an extension till June 30 to collate the data. The ECI is expected to upload the data on its website by March 15.