Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar resigns

Chandigarh, March 12 (IANS) Manohar Lal Khattar resigned as Haryana Chief Minister on Tuesday.

The entire Khattar cabinet has also resigned as the BJP and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) head for a split.

In a setback to Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala, five of his MLAs are likely to join the BJP later in the day.

Sources say the JJP has been demanding the Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seats, but the BJP state unit wants to contest all 10 constituencies.

Party insiders told IANS of the possibility of a “complete Cabinet reshuffle”, with the support of Independent MLAs, accommodating a few in the new Cabinet.

At present, in the 90-member Assembly, the BJP has 41 MLAs, while the Congress has 30, the JJP 10, and there are seven Independents, apart from an MLA each of the INLD and Haryana Lokhit Party.