 "Manohar Lal Khattar and JJP chief Dushyant Chautala. PTI file")
In a surprising turn of events, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with his entire cabinet resigned on Tuesday amid speculation of a split between BJP and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP).
Here are five reasons why a split between the two parties is expected to happen.
- There were differences about seat sharing
Reports said that JJP chief Dushyant Chautala wanted his party to contest from two seats in the coming Lok Sabha polls, which the BJP was not ready to give. The ties between the two worsened following this. The BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019 polls.
- There was buzz about a breakup
Independent MLA Nayan Pal Rawat met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday. He was quoted by ANI saying: “I met the Chief Minister yesterday. We have already extended our support to CM Manohar Lal-led government. We also discussed the strategy for the Lok Sabha elections. I got the impression that the process of breaking the alliance with JJP has already started”.
- The BJP may have the numbers
The Haryana legislative assembly, comprising 90 members, requires 46 seats for a majority. The BJP currently holds 41 MLAs and enjoys support from six independent MLAs. Additionally, Gopal Kanda’s Haryana Lokhit Party also lends its support to the BJP.
- There is even talk of JJP splitting
News18 quoted sources as saying that a few MLAs of JJP skipped party chief Chautala’s meeting on Tuesday and were “in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party”. At least four JJP MLAs are in contact with BJP, the source claimed.
- Not all was smooth in the alliance
Ever since the alliance was formed in 2019, political watchers have seen signs of differences between the chief minister and his deputy. From different takes over the role of Monu Manesar in Nuh communal violence, the reason the alliance was formed to even their plans for the coming Lok Sabha elections gave an impression that not all was well with the alliance. In fact, after senior BJP leader Amit Shah had urged voters to ensure “lotus blooms in all 10 seats in Haryana” in a rally in Sirsa last year, Dushyant Chautala had said that JJP was preparing to contest all ten Lok Sabha seats as well.