India: BJP stakes claim to form government in Haryana

Chandigarh, Oct 26 (PTI) The BJP staked claim to form the government in Haryana on Saturday with the support of the Dushyant Chautala-led JJP, party sources said here.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Manohar Lal Khattar and state party chief Subhash Barala, met Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya for staking claim to form the government.

Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Chautala also met the governor and gave his party's letter of support to him.

The JJP has extended support to the saffron party.

Prasad and BJP general secretary Arun Singh were present as the party's central observers.

Some of the Independent MLAs, who have pledged their unconditional support to the saffron party, were also present.

Notably, the BJP has said it will not take the support of Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, a controversial politician who faces two abetment-to-suicide cases, for forming the government in Haryana.

Earlier, Khattar was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP's legislative party in Haryana, with the saffron party claiming that it would provide a "stable and honest" government in Haryana with the support of the JJP.

The BJP also clarified that there would be only one deputy chief minister in the party-led coalition government in the state.