Haryana: Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, BJP-JJP alliance may end today, as per reports

In what is being seen as a blow to the ruling BJP weeks before the commencement of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-JJP government in Haryana is on the verge of collapse, according to various media reports.

Citing sources, India Today TV claimed that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, along with his entire cabinet, is likely to resign. Afterward, a new cabinet will be sworn in. The BJP MLAs have been asked to reach the Raj Bhavan by 1 pm on Tuesday, 12 March.

The saffron party could form a new government with six independent legislators, sources said.

In the 90-member Haryana assembly, the BJP has 41 MLAs, Congress has 30, and JJP has 10. Seven are Independents, while there is one MLA each from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP).

Union Minister Arjun Munda and BJP leader Tarun Chugh have been sent to Haryana as observers and are likely to participate in a legislative meeting called at 12 pm.

However, it is not certain if Khattar will take the oath as the Chief Minister again. BJP sources claimed that the veteran leader may contest the Lok Sabha election.

Though the exact reasons for the split have not been mentioned, neither by the BJP nor by the JJP, it is believed that differences over seat-sharing led to the fallout.

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala recently met BJP president J.P. Nadda to discuss seat-sharing among for the Lok Sabha polls, the two allies in the state.

The JJP had been demanding 2 seats - Hisar and Bhiwani–Mahendragarh - for the Lok Sabha elections, but the BJP was not in favor of giving any seat.

The BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the previous elections in 2019.

Notably, Dushyant Chautala had won Hisar in 2014. The JJP had allied with the BJP after the assembly polls in 2019.