Nayab Singh Saini swearing-in ceremony Live Updates: Saini to take oath as Haryana CM today; Modi, Shah to attend

Nayab Singh Saini swearing-in ceremony Live Updates: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Nayab Singh Saini will be sworn in as the chief minister of Haryana today, October 17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP top leadership will attend the oath-taking ceremony scheduled to begin at 11 am.

Saini, 54 staked claim to form the next government after he was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party on Wednesday.

BJP secured a historic third term in Haryana, winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. The Congress won 37 seats. The elections were held on October 5 and the results declared on October 8. 

Apart from Modi and Shah, a battery of Union ministers including Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda, chief ministers of many states, and senior party leaders are expected to attend the oath-taking event in Panchkula. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the event. Around 50,000 people were expected to attend the mega event, party leaders said.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to hold a meeting of all chief ministers and deputy chief ministers from the coalition in Chandigarh, soon after Singh Saini takes oath as the chief minister for the second time.

BJP had declared that Saini would continue as chief minister if the party returned to power in Haryana. Saini, an OBC face of the party, won the Ladwa assembly seat in Kurukshetra district. 

Months before the assembly polls, the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with low-profile Saini as Haryana CM. The decision paid off with Saini leading the party to victory in the state elections.

Saini’s elevation from the Haryana BJP president to chief minister was done at a time when the BJP  was facing anti-incumbency following Khattar’s tenure of nine-and-a-half years.