Chandigarh, Oct. 17 -- The death of two Haryana Police officials a week apart has cast a shadow on the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government's plans to celebrate one year in office. The crisis couldn't have come at a more inopportune time for Saini, who had planned to put up a show of strength in Sonepat on October 17. In the backdrop of the controversy fraught with stirring the caste cauldron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled plans to attend the rally to mark the occasion. "On its first anniversary, the government's plan was to project an image of stability and development. Instead, it finds itself in a fire fighting mode", said a BJP leader, requesting anonymity. " This ( crisis) has come as the first test for Saini", he added. To be sure, the government's first-year report card has a raft of positives that Saini would have liked to showcase as proof of his pro-people governance. But, the bad tidings in the last one week or so have come as a dampener. Allegations of corruption and casteism in the police coupled with growing gangsterism and extortion calls to traders have lent ammunition to the opposition to target the Saini government. "Law and order is in shambles as organised crime is on the rise. Even IG and ASI rank police officials are allegedly committing suicide. What is happening to Haryana?" said Congress leader and former two-time chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Besides law and order and simmering caste tensions, unemployment is another challenge for the Saini government as its promise of providing 2 lakh jobs remains a work in progress, while there are signs of unrest among farmers due to stagnating agricultural growth. For most of his tenure, an affable and accessible Saini, 55, has worked in the shadow of his mentor and predecessor, Manohar Lal Khattar, who was accommodated at the Centre in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections last year to tide over the anti-incumbency factor in Haryana. A former state BJP president admits that the perception that Khattar still runs the show in Haryana is hurting Saini's image. He likened Khattar's interference in Haryana governance to that of a "possessive mother-in-law who doesn't let go of managing even mundane matters". Another veteran BJP leader said: "Saini must assert his authority. He has proved himself by bringing the party back to power despite the decade-long anti-incumbency with the highest 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. He will have to find his own way to deal with Khattar's unsolicited interference." The refrain that bureaucrats, not politicians, are running the government is growing among BJP cadre. "They feel ignored and unrewarded (after the hat-trick). The BJP's biggest advantage remains a weak and divided Congress," a central BJP leader said. While Saini has gained command, his council of ministers is a weak flank. Barring veteran Anil Vij, the outspoken Rao Narbir Singh, Mahipal Dhanda, and Vipul Goel, half of the 14 ministers are short on both political heft and administrative skills. Former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala believes the Saini dispensation failed to sustain the growth achieved during the previous BJP-JJP alliance government. "It's unfortunate to see Haryana in weak hands," he said. Haryana BJP affairs in-charge Satish Poonia, who is credited with scripting the party's comeback, however, struck a positive note, saying "Saini has lived up to public expectations and is reaching out to the poor, women, youngsters, and farmers through its schemes. The double-engine model is benefiting Haryana." Saini has ensured stability after succession by continuing with welfare schemes, ensuring jobs on merit and ensuring last-mile delivery to beneficiaries. The social security net has been expanded and the launch of the Rs 2,100/month scheme for women are the government's high points. Rajesh Khullar, the chief principal secretary to the CM, has been the pivot of the Saini administration, ensuring that benefits of welfare schemes reach the masses, the key factor that humbled the Congress in the last elections. Unlike Khattar, who has a stiff micro-management style of functioning, Saini's humility has not gone unnoticed. The BJP banks on him to strike the right chord in Punjab, where it is keen to fight the 2027 assembly elections on its own steam. As for Saini, he counts eradicating corruption, regionalism and nepotism while adhering to Prime Minister Modi's mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas as his government's mission. "Soon after being sworn in as CM on October 17, 2024, I fulfilled my commitment of paving the way for 25,000 selected youths to join government service," he said on completing 100 days in office and recently promised that 90 poll commitments will be fulfilled by the year-end. "The youth sentiment has seen a shift of late. For generations, families in Haryana believed loyalty to politicians would secure them government jobs. This mindset crippled competitiveness and eroded faith in fairness. Today, youngsters are confident of getting a job in the Haryana government through hard work, not political servitude," said Rajendra Sharma, a political science professor at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. The recent common entrance test and merit-based appointments emerged as the biggest USP of the BJP this year. As the BJP government embarks its 12th year in power, on a litmus test is Saini's political acumen and governance skills as he treads cautiously to defuse the crisis that has implications not only for the morale of bureaucracy, but also for the state's tenuous caste equations....