Hry CM Saini takes oath as MLA from Karnal

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was administered oath as a legislator by the Assembly Speaker on Thursday in Chandigarh. Speaker Gian Chand Gupta administered the oath to the BJP leader in his chamber.

Saini recently defeated his main rival, Congress’ Tarlochan Singh to win the bypoll for the Karnal Assembly seat, which was earlier held by party colleague Manohar Lal Khattar. In the 2019 Assembly polls, Khattar had retained the seat defeating Tarlochan Singh. Saini, the outgoing MP from Kurukshetra, had contested the by-election for the Karnal Assembly seat after he replaced Khattar as chief minister.

Saini said the Congress could win five seats in Haryana because it succeeded in spreading the lie that if BJP is voted back to power at the Centre it will abolish reservation and scrap the Constitution. Saini, who was sworn in as the chief minister on March 12, won the by-election for the Karnal Assembly seat held last month. On Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s demand from the governor to dismiss the state BJP government, Saini asserted that his dispensation had won the trust vote in March and there is no threat to it. Asked about reasons for losing five seats to Congress, which scored zilch in the previous general election, Saini said “...We held a meeting of our MLAs and ministers yesterday. The issue which has emerged is that in this election Congress took support of lies.” Ahead of Haryana Assembly polls due in October, Saini said that BJP workers will reach out to the SC community and visit every home and “expose the Congress’ propaganda.”

On Congress’ claim that his government is in minority, Saini said his government still had a majority.