Fifty–four–year–old Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday took oath as Haryana Chief Minister for the second time amidst a galaxy of NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president and Union Minister JP Nadda, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu; Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, NCP Leader & Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar; Senior JDU leader and Union Minister Ranjiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Union Minister Chirag Paswan and others.
Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of different National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and others were also present.
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy to Saini and his Cabinet Ministers. In the new Cabinet, 13 MLAs, including two women, have been inducted. Five of the 13 ministers sworn in with Saini come from the OBC category, two each are from the Jat, Brahmin, and Scheduled Caste communities, and one each is from the Punjabi, Rajput, and Vaishya communities.
Saini became the Chief Minister for the second time in the State. With this, the BJP has formed the government for a record third consecutive term after securing an absolute majority, defying an anti-incumbency of 10 years. Saini was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in a meeting held at the party office in Panchkula on Wednesday.
Soon after the oath ceremony, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini said that his government will “work with full energy for good governance, equality and welfare of the poor.”
Around 50,000 people witnessed the ceremony, with massive security arrangements and 14 LED screens set up for the public. Opposition leaders, farmers, 'Lakhpati Didis', and representatives from various social organisations were also invited. The BJP's choice of the day for the swearing-in ceremony is significant as it is Valmiki Jayanti. Sage-poet Valmiki is the author of the Hindu epic Ramayana and a revered figure, especially among Dalits.
Anil Vij, Rao Narbir Singh, Shruti Choudhry among 13 Haryana MLAs took oath as Ministers
The Council of Ministers, comprising 11 Cabinet ministers and two Ministers of State (Independent Charge), also took the oath of office in a 45-minute ceremony. All newly inducted ministers except Choudhary took oath in Hindi. Choudhary took oath in English. Each MLA greeted PM Modi after taking oath.
The Haryana Cabinet, which can accommodate a maximum of 14 ministers, including the Chief Minister, comprises two ministers belonging to each of the OBCs, Jats, Yadav, the Scheduled Caste and Brahmin and one each of Punjabi, Rajput, Gujar and Vaish communities.
The Council of Ministers who took the oath as per their seniority were seven-time legislator Anil Vij, a prominent Punjabi-Khatri face; Krishan Lal Panwar, the six-time legislator belonging to the Scheduled Caste from Israna in Panipat district; four-time legislator Rao Narbir Singh, an Ahir leader from Badshahpur in Gurugram district; Mahipal Dhanda, a Jat legislator from Panipat (rural); and two-time lawmaker Vipul Goel, a Vaish community legislator from Faridabad. They all were ministers in the previous two BJP governments from 2014.
The other ministers are Congress turncoat and four-time Member of Parliament Arvind Sharma, a Brahmin lawmaker from Gohana in Sonepat; Shyam Singh Rana, a legislator from Radaur in Yamunanagar district who left the BJP in 2020 and rejoined the party in July; former Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa Ranbir, the legislator belonging to backward class from Barwala in Hisar district; Krishan Bedi, a scheduled caste (Balmiki) legislator from Narwana in Jind; Shruti Choudhry, a Jat MLA from Tosham in Bhiwani district; Arti Rao, a legislator from Ateli in Mahendergarh district; Rajesh Nagar, a Gujjar legislator from Tigaon in Faridabad district; first-time legislator Gaurav Gautam, who won the Palwal constituency, defeating Karan Singh Dalal of the Congress by a margin of 33,605 votes. Nagar and Gautam took oath as the Ministers of State (Independent Charge). Two women Cabinet ministers -- Arti Rao, the daughter of Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, and Shruti Choudhry, the granddaughter of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, are first-time legislators. Shruti Choudhry and her mother Kiran Chaudhary, now a Rajya Sabha MP, had joined the BJP, leaving the Congress after a bitter fight with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda.
My Doors are Opened Round the Clock & Common Man can Approach ME with Their Issues: Saini
Hours before the oath ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and paid homage at Valmiki Temple on the occasion of Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti. He also offered prayers at a Gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
Talking to reporters, Saini said, “It is a matter of good fortune for me that today is the birth anniversary of Lord Valmiki. He worked to end the evils prevalent in the society and also gave a message to the society. Today it is my good fortune that I have got the opportunity to worship at the feet of Lord Valmiki. I extend my best heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to the people of the State on his birth anniversary.”
“My doors are open round the clock and the common man can approach me with their issues. This morning, I met nearly 150 people at my residence before coming to the temple,” Saini told the media persons after paying respects to Maharishi Valmiki, his first public engagement where the temple priest presented him the Ramayana, one of the most popular epics of all time. Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti is celebrated to honour the birth of Maharishi Valmiki, the revered sage and author of the Ramayana.
Saini further said that the new BJP government will work towards taking Haryana forward at a rapid pace under the leadership of PM Modi. The people of Haryana have shown faith in the Modi government's policies, he said on the assembly poll results. Saini said the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' (poll manifesto) will be fully implemented. "Look at our 2014 Sankalp Patra and 2019 Sankalp Patra, we implemented them completely and now this Sankalp Patra will also be implemented by our government," he said.
Moreover, from losing his security deposit from the Naraingarh Assembly segment in 2009 to becoming Haryana Chief Minister for the second time—all within a span of 15 years—it has been a meteoric rise for unassuming Saini. Saini cut his political teeth under RSS ‘pracharak’-turned-politician Khattar in 1996.
Rising from the ranks, Saini was appointed Ambala district secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in 2002. Later, he held the post of district president of the morcha before graduating as the Ambala district president.
Born on January 25, 1970 in Mizapur Majra, a village near Ambala, Saini, the OBC face of the saffron party, perfectly fitted into the Jat-non Jat narrative of the BJP. Saini was brought in March this year to counter the anti-incumbency wave against incumbent Manohar Lal Khattar for his nine-and-a-half-year helm. In his 56 days of governance, Saini claimed to have done so much development that Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda did in 10 years as the Chief Minister.
The BJP won the Assembly elections by winning 48 seats in the 90-seat Assembly of Haryana. The Congress won 37 seats, while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) secured two and three Independents were elected. All three have extended unconditional support to the government. Eight out of 10 ministers in the previous Saini’s Cabinet faced defeat. The two who won were Mahipal Dhanda and Mool Chand Sharma. Saini won the Ladwa seat by 16,054 votes, defeating his nearest rival and Congress candidate Mewa Singh.
