Amit Shah, MP CM appointed observers for Haryana; Pralhad Joshi & Tarun Chugh for J&K

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (IANS) Home Minister Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav have been appointed as central observers ahead of the Haryana BJP legislature party meeting on October 16 to elect its leader, who will be the next Chief Minister.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and the party's National General Secretary Tarun Chugh have been appointed observers for the Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called a meeting of its newly-elected 48 legislators in Haryana to elect their legislature party leader.

Nayab Singh Saini, the party’s Chief Minister face in the Assembly poll, is expected to be chosen as the leader of the legislature party ahead of the swearing-in ceremony to be held on a day after the meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Shah, ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the ceremony.

The date for the oath-taking was finalised after outgoing Chief Minister Saini met Home Minister Shah and other senior leaders in New Delhi on Friday night after confirmation of PM Modi’s availability from the Prime Minister’s Office.

For the second time, Panchkula, near the state capital Chandigarh, will be hosting the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP government. The ceremony will be held at the Dussehra ground at 10 A.M. in Sector 5.

Earlier, the swearing-in ceremony was planned for October 15, but owing to PM Modi’s availability on October 17 it was rescheduled, party leaders said.

In 2014, Panchkula was the venue for the swearing-in of Manohar Lal Khattar, the BJP’s first chief minister in the state, after the party won a majority with 47 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

At that time also, PM Modi had attended the ceremony.

Days ahead of government formation for the third time, Saini on Friday said 25,000 appointments would be made before the oath-taking ceremony.

Taking a jibe at the main Opposition, he said the Congress never rose above corruption and dynastic politics.

“In the past, they had won power by deceiving people in several states, including Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and others. The Congress has lost its credibility,” Saini has told the media.

Outgoing Chief Minister Saini, under whose leadership the party fought the high-octane electoral battle and overcame a 10-year anti-incumbency, may be retained as the Chief Minister, party leaders believe.

The BJP won a landslide majority by winning 48 seats in a House of 90. The Congress was the second-largest party with 37 seats, while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) got only two seats.

Independent candidates who got three seats, extended unconditional support to the BJP, whereas Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) drew a blank.

Simultaneously, BJP's parliamentary board has tasked Union Minister Prahlad Joshi and BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh with overseeing the selection of the legislature party leader in J&K.

Despite the National Conference's 42-seat win, marking them as the largest party, the BJP marked a historic high of 29 seats in the region's Assembly elections.