After campaigning against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently-concluded Haryana Assembly polls, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will attend the oath-taking ceremony of Chief Minister-designate of Haryana Manohar lal Khattar on coming Sunday at Panchkula.
“Punjab Chief Minister has been invited for the swearing-in ceremony of new Haryana Chief Minister, scheduled to be held on October 26 (Sunday),” said an official spokesman on Friday.
The invitation had been received by the Punjab's Resident Commissioner, he said, adding that Badal would also receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who too is going to attend the function.
Badal, who is the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), had campaigned in Haryana for his party and Indian National lok Dal (INlD) candidates, much to the dismay of BJP leaders in Haryana.
The SAD and the BJP have alliance in Punjab, but the Akalis backed INlD in neighbouring Haryana citing “family ties” between Badals and jailed leader Om Parkash Chautala. Chautala, INlD chief, is in Tihar jail after his conviction in a teachers’ recruitment scandal. BJP created history by coming to power for the first time in the history of Haryana since its inception in 1966 at its own. Khattar, an RSS ideologue, will become the first chief minister of BJP for Haryana.
In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, BJP bagged 47 seats, INlD 19, its ally SAD one, Congress 15, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC Bl) two, BSP one and five independents romped home victorious.