Haryana CM Manohar Lal’s close confidante Nayab Saini takes over as new BJP chief

BJP appoints OBC leader Nayab Saini as Haryana president, replacing Jat leader Om Prakash Dhankar. Move seen as attempt to consolidate non-Jat vote bank ahead of elections. Chief Minister Manohar Lal's confidante Saini has close ties to RSS, was Minister of State Labour and Employment in 2015. Dhankar credited for strengthening party's organisational set-up. Lal confident Saini will create new history in elections.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal’s close confidante Kurukshetra Lok Sabha member Nayab Saini was on Friday appointed Haryana BJP president replacing Om Prakash Dhankar, who has been appointed the national secretary.

With an OBC leader taking over the party’s reins from a Jat ahead of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections next year the state BJP has tried to consolidate its “non-Jat” vote bank hoping for the division of Jat votes between Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Jannayak Janta Party.

“It is a very clear message from the party that they don’t need Jats in Haryana,” said a senior BJP leader, not willing to be identified, adding that Mr. Dhankar’s appointment as national secretary too was in a sense “demotion” for him. He added that the party replacing Jat presidents both in Haryana and Rajasthan in a short span could send wrong signals to the community and harm the party’s prospects.

Mr. Saini had a brief stint at Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh where he came in close contact with Mr. Lal before he joined the BJP. He was made Minister of State Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) in 2015 during the BJP’s first-ever simple majority government led by Mr. Lal.

Rumours were rife about possible change of guard in the state unit after Mr. Lal called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month. With the appointment of Mr. Saini, the Chief Minister has tightened his hold over the party’s state unit.

Mr. Dhankar, who took over as president in July 2020, is largely credited for his work to strengthen the party’s organisational set-up in the state with the appointment of panna pramukhs (person in charge of a page in the electoral rolls).

Welcoming the appointment of Mr. Saini, Mr. Lal, in a post on X, said he had full confidence that the organisation would benefit from his comprehensive political and administrative experience and create a new history in all forthcoming elections. Mr. Lal also congratulated Mr. Dhankar for his new responsibility.