Haryana: Khattar To Meet Nadda, Senior Leaders In Delhi; May Stake Claim To Form Govt Today

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been holding hectic parleys with independent candidates and among party members, since yesterday, in an effort to retain power in the state.

New Delhi: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar left for Delhi to meet senior party leaders on Friday, as the ruling BJP emerged as the single largest party, yet falling short of the majority mark by six seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been holding hectic parleys with independent candidates and among party members, in an effort to retain power in the state. Khattar will be meeting BJP Working President JP Nadda and party's Haryana In-charge Anil Jain today at Nadda’s residence in Delhi and discuss the way forward in the wake of the BJP needing support of a few MLAs to form the government. He left for Delhi in a helicopter. He boarded the chopper from the helipad near his official residence here, sources said. The party has the option either to take support of the Independents alone or approach the JJP or both. The sources said all these things will be thoroughly discussed when Khattar meets senior party leaders. Khattar is expected to get support of Independent legislators- two of them are Lokhit Party (HLP) chief Gopal Kanda, who won from Sirsa, and the Congress rebel Ranjit Singh, youngest son of Jat leader late Chaudhary Devi Lal, who won from the Rania seat as an Independent candidate. After the poll results came out on Thursday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell six short of the halfway mark needed to form the next government. The Congress won 31 seats, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) 10, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) one each and seven are Independents. Khattar likely to stake claim to form government: Post the deliberations in New Delhi, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is expected to meet Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya to stake claim to form the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in its second consecutive term.