New Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini won a trust vote in the state legislative assembly on Wednesday, March 13. The Saini-led government received the support of 48 MLAs. This development came a day after former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar resigned, and the BJP broke ranks with its ally, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).
Ahead of the floor test, The JJP, headed by Dushyant Chautala, had issued a whip to 10 MLAs and asked them to abstain from voting in the floor test. Despite the whip, four JJP MLAs -- Jogi Ram Sihag, Ishwar Singh, Ramkumar Gautam and Devendra Babli broke ranks and arrived in the state Assembly. Later, the four JJP MLAs and an Independent MLA, Balraj Kundu, left the House.
In the 90-member state assembly, the BJP has 41 members, and it also enjoys the support of six of the seven independents as well as of lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda. The JJP has 10 MLAs in the House. The main opposition Congress has 30 MLAs while the Indian National Lok Dal has one.