Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party will form a government in Haryana with Jannayak Janta Party, News18 reported. “Tomorrow both the parties will start working on the government formation in Haryana,” Shah said at a press conference in New Delhi.

He said that Manohar Lal Khattar will remain the chief minister of Haryana, and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala will be the deputy chief minister of the state. Khattar said they will meet Governor SN Arya on Friday in Chandigarh to stake claim to form the government, ANI reported.

“To give a stable govt to Haryana, it was important for BJP and JJP to come together,” Chautala said. “I would like to thank Amit Shah and [BJP leader JP] Nadda. Our party had decided that for the betterment of the state, it is important to have a stable government.”

In the Assembly elections held on Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 40 seats, six short of the majority it needed to form government. The Congress came second with 31 seats, and the JJP won 10 seats in its first-ever election.

The announcement came hours after Chautala said the doors were open both for the saffron party and the Congress to form an alliance with his party. He listed conditions for the alliance and said that the next government would have to reserve 75% of jobs for local youth, substantial increase of various kinds of pensions, and implement the party’s agenda as part of a common minimum programme. It is not yet clear if the BJP accepted his conditions.

Earlier, the BJP had focused on the support of seven Independent legislators, and backing from Haryana Lokhit Party’s Gopal Kanda. However, the party was severely criticised for taking Kanda’s support as he had been accused of abetting the suicide of Geetika Sharma, an air hostess who was an employee in his aviation company, and her mother.

Some BJP members, Opposition leaders and several people on social media had rebuked the saffron party and accused it of double-speaking.

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.