The alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) in Haryana is on the brink of collapsing over disagreements in seat-sharing discussions for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of the BJP is set to meet with Governor Bandaru Dattatreya to tender his resignation. Following the cabinet’s dissolution, the BJP is expected to form a new government with the help of Independent MLAs.
Haryana Independent MLA Nayan Rawat, after a meeting with Khattar, indicated that moves to dismantle the alliance with the JJP were underway. The upheaval occurs amidst speculations that Manohar Lal Khattar might run for the Lok Sabha election from Karnal, though whether he will be the Chief Minister again is uncertain. His meet with Dushyant Chautala, the JJP leader and current Deputy Chief Minister, and BJP president J P Nadda, failed to resolve the seat-sharing issues, leading Chautala to plan talks with Home Minister Amit Shah as a last effort to save the coalition.
In the previous Lok Sabha election held in 2019, the BJP had clinched all ten seats in Haryana and thereafter formed an alliance with the JJP after the assembly elections. In the 90-member Haryana assembly, the numbers stand with BJP having 41 MLAs, Congress 30, JJP 10, and the support from seven Independents, one from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and one from the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP). The BJP has decided to call upon its legislators for a meeting, with the presence of Union Minister Arjun Munda and party leader Tarun Chugh as observers. As the rift over seat-sharing intensifies, with the BJP’s decision to contest all Lok Sabha seats clashing with JJP’s desire for two seats, the fate of the alliance hangs by a thread with crucial meetings and a potential reshuffling of power.