The BJP’s tally in Haryana has been halved in this year’s Lok Sabha elections, following the clean sweep in 2019, but the party has reposed its faith in Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and declared that the Assembly elections later this year will be fought under his leadership. Mr Saini had replaced Manohar Lal Khattar, who had been the chief minister of the state since 2014, in March.

Home Minister Amit Shah also announced that the party will go it alone in the upcoming elections. The BJP had formed an alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party after it failed to secure a majority on its own in the 2019 Assembly polls, and Dushyant Chautala had been appointed the deputy chief minister.

The alliance was called off when Mr Saini became the chief minister, reportedly following a disagreement over seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing BJP leaders and workers after a meeting of the party’s extended state executive in Panchkula on Saturday, Mr Shah said in Hindi, “Remove all doubts from your mind, we will not go with anyone (in an alliance for the upcoming elections). We don’t need any crutches. We will form a BJP government with a full majority. We will earn the trust of voters in Haryana under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nayab Singh Saini.”

Nayab Singh Saini, 54, is an influential figure within the OBC, or Other Backward Classes, community and was a Lok Sabha MP before taking over the top job in the state. 

Mr Khattar, who is now a Union Minister, was present at the party meeting, which was also attended by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP’s election in-charge for Haryana and the co-incharge, Biplab Kumar Deb, among others.

The upcoming elections in Haryana will be crucial for the BJP, especially because it won only five of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats after sweeping all of them in 2019. Along with Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which will also see Assembly polls this year, it will be an opportunity for the party to prove that it remains popular with voters after failing – for the first time in 10 years – to achieve a majority on its own in the general elections.

In Haryana, the BJP faces a challenge from the Congress, which has been buoyed after bagging the remaining five Lok Sabha seats in the state. The ruling party’s former ally, the Jannayak Janta Party, has also announced that it will support the Congress in the Rajya Sabha poll, the date for which is yet to be declared. One seat in the Upper House from the state has been vacated by Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda, who has been elected as an MP from the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat. 

Mr Chautala has ruled out an alliance with the BJP and said the JJP will take feedback from its workers and then decide whether it will partner with any other party.