With 4 months remaining for Haryana state polls, CM Saini's task cut out

Chandigarh, Jun 4 (PTI) With over four months to go for the assembly polls, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini's task is cut out to ensure that the BJP quickly puts behind the loss of five seats in the Lok Sabha polls in the state and focuses on the upcoming elections.

In 2019, the BJP had won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, but managed to hold on to five this time while the Congress reaped gains in five seats.

In the Karnal assembly constituency, where a bypoll was held, Saini won with a margin of over 41,450 votes over Congress nominee Tarlochan Singh.

In the 2019 assembly polls, BJP's Manohar Lal Khattar had won the Karnal seat defeating Tarlochan Singh of the Congress by a margin of over 45,000 votes.

On March 12, the announcement to pick Saini as Haryana's next chief minister was sudden and unexpected. He was unanimously elected as the leader of the state BJP's legislature group after the party effected a leadership change in the state.

Saini, 54, a low profile OBC leader, rose through the ranks in the party. Considered as a confidante of Khattar, 70), the protege replaced the BJP strongman whose second term as chief minister was going to end in October when the state goes to polls.

With the BJP failing to retain five seats it had won in 2019, and the Congress getting the much-needed boost, Saini's task is cut out with the Haryana polls months away.

He will not only have to ensure that the state unit of the BJP quickly puts behind the setback suffered on five seats, he will also have to lead the party unit from the front to make it battle-ready for the Vidhan Sabha polls.

Reacting to his performance in the Karnal assembly seat, Saini said, "This is a victory of the people of Haryana." He also thanked the people of Haryana the for way they participated in this festival of democracy and strengthened democracy.

About the NDA's performance, he said people have put a stamp for third time on the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Under Modi's leadership, the way Haryana has undertaken progress earlier, the state will continue to do so in future, Saini said.

The BJP had in October appointed Saini, belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC), as its Haryana unit president in place of Om Prakash Dhankar.

Saini's appointment as the state BJP chief was seen as the party's move to strengthen its hold over the OBC community and non-Jats.

The support of Jats, a predominant community in Haryana, is largely seen to be divided between the Congress, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Along with these factors, the move to pick Saini as the chief minister had also been seen as a counter to the anti-incumbency perception against the BJP dispensation that was led by Khattar.

Saini was born on January 25, 1970 in a village called Mirjapur Majra in Naraingarh in Ambala district. A law graduate, he enjoys cordial terms with Khattar, with their relationship going back to their RSS days.

Saini was also a minister in the Khattar cabinet between 2014 and 2019. He was a legislator when he fought the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

He became an MLA from Naraingarh assembly segment in 2014, when the BJP came to power in Haryana for the first time on its own strength.

In the 2019 LS polls, he had defeated his nearest rival, Congress' Nirmal Singh from the Kurukshetra seat, by a margin of 3,84,591 votes.

Saini, who was a minister in the Khattar cabinet, was fielded in 2019 from Kurukshetra seat after sitting MP R K Saini rebelled.

After becoming chief minister in March, during Lok Sabha poll campaigning, Saini praised Khattar for the works undertaken during his over nine-year long tenure in the state. PTI SUN KSS KSS