Khattar takes oath as Haryana CM for second term

CHANDIGARH: Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Haryana where the BJP formed a government, state’s first non-Congress government at the helm for the second consecutive term.

The saffron party formed the government in alliance with the newly formed Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala, who took oath as Khattar’s deputy.

Khattar, 65, will be heading the second Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of the state, which was formed on November 1, 1966.

A low-profile organizational man with an active RSS background, Khattar was chosen by the newly elected BJP legislators as their leader at a meeting here on Saturday.

"My government will be transparent," Khattar told the media ahead of taking the oath.

Five-time Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, whose party Shriomani Akali Dal (SAD) had an alliance with BJP''s rival Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) during the assembly elections despite being an NDA partner, attended the ceremony along with son and Member of Parliament Sukhbir Badal.

Earlier, the BJP, which won 40 seats and was six short of a majority in the 90-member Assembly, announced an alliance with the JJP led by Dushyant Chautala, a great grandson of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.