When the BJP picked Nayab Singh Saini as the Haryana chief minister in March to buck anti-incumbency, many felt a change of guard would not be enough to win elections. But the low-profile OBC leader proved all the naysayers wrong by steering his party to a third successive term in the heartland state. Not a nobody but not a somebody either when he replaced strongman Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister, Saini was the BJP's man of the moment on Thursday when he was sworn in to head the state. The 54-year-old proverbial dark horse, who has risen through the ranks of the Haryana BJP, deftly changed public perception of himself and the party in a state which many thought would go to the Congress. The BJP won 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. Three Independents, including Hisar MLA Savitri Jindal, have also extended support to the party. Born in Ambala's Mirzapur Majra village on January 25, 1970, Saini served as minister in the Khattar cabinet between 2014 and 2019. During the past