Kalyan, Mool Chand lead race for post of Haryana Speaker

After the formation of the Council of Ministers, intense lobbying has begun for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, with MLAs who missed the Cabinet bus reportedly vying through their connections for the coveted positions.

The BJP high command, for its part, is expected to consider caste and regional equations before finalising the names. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini yesterday met Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was the BJP in charge for the Assembly elections. Apart from the allocation of portfolios to the new ministers, the candidates for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are expected to have been discussed.

Sources said three-term MLA Harvinder Kalyan (Gharaunda) was the frontrunner for the Speaker’s post. However, the names of a few other senior MLAs, including three-term legislator from Ballabhgarh (Faridabad district) Mool Chand Sharma, were also under consideration, they said.

Kalyan, belonging to the Rod clan, represents Karnal district in the Assembly and both his community and the district have gone unrepresented in the Council of Ministers. On the other hand, Sharma, who was a minister during the tenure of Manohar Lal Khattar and Nayab Saini, has been kept out of the Cabinet this time.

Krishan Lal Middha, three-time MLA from Jind, is seen as a frontrunner for the Deputy Speaker’s post. However, the names of Ram Kumar Gautam (Safidon) and Vinod Bhayana (three-time MLA from Hansi) are also doing the rounds.

Jind, the district of which Safidon Assembly segment of Gautam (Brahmin) is a part, is currently represented by Krishan Bedi (Narwana) in the Cabinet. However, Hisar district, in which Hansi Assembly seat falls, is unrepresented. Another advantage for Bhayana, a Punjabi, is that there is only one representative of the community—Anil Vij—in the Council of Ministers.

The sources said the party may even nominate a first-time MLA for the Deputy Speaker’s post. As many as 22 of the 48 BJP MLAs in the 90-member House are first-timers. Of them, only three—Arti Rao, Shruti Chaudhry and Gaurav Gautam—have been allocated ministries. The Haryana Assembly is likely to meet this week for the oath ceremony of the newly elected MLAs, a process when the elections for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are also likely to take place.