Nayab Saini to take oath as Haryana CM today; PM Modi to attend event

Nayab Singh Saini will be sworn-in as the chief minister of Haryana on Thursday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP's top leadership, among others attending the oath-taking ceremony. Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya will administer the oath of office and secrecy.

The 54-year-old on Wednesday was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in a meeting held at the party office in Panchkula. Massive security arrangements have been made in the wake of the swearing-in ceremony which will take place in Panchkula.

Besides PM Modi and Shah, several Union ministers including Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda, who is also the BJP president, chief ministers of many states, and senior party leaders will attend the oath-taking event. In the October 5 Haryana polls, the BJP secured an unprecedented third term in the state, winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. The Congress won 37 seats. With the BJP forming the government for a third time in a row in Haryana, Saini will be taking oath as the chief minister for the second time. Around 50,000 people were expected to attend the mega event, party leaders said.

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A total of 14 LED screens will be installed at the event venue so that people could witness the function. Traffic advisory has also been issued ahead of the swearing-in event. 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 had replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the chief minister of Haryana in March.

Saini, an OBC face of the party, had won the Ladwa seat in Kurukshetra district. Months before the assembly polls, the BJP replaced Khattar with low-profile Saini, a decision that surprised many, but the BJP's gamble paid off with Saini leading the party to victory in the state elections.

Saini's elevation from the Haryana BJP president to chief minister in March came at a time when the party was facing anti-incumbency following Khattar's tenure of nine-and-a-half years and attacks from a buoyant opposition on farmers' issues, unemployment, Agnipath scheme, inflation, and law and order.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)