PANCHKULA: Manohar Lal Khattar, mentored by RSS and known for his organisational skills and clean image, on Sunday took oath as Haryana Chief Minister, leading the first BJP Government in the state since it was created 48 years ago.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom 60-year-old Khattar shares proximity, BJP President Amit Shah, Union Ministers, veteran leaders L.K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and Chief Ministers of four BJP ruled states were present as the ten-member ministry was sworn in at a ceremony here by Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki.
A first time MLA, Khattar, who has a four-decade-long association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP, is the first Punjabi to become the Chief Minister of the state.
Khattar is also the fifth non-Jat Chief Minister of the state and the first in last 18 years.
Six Cabinet Ministers, including a woman MLA Kavita Jain (Sonipat), and three Ministers of State (Independent Charge) were also sworn in at the event attended by a large number of people.
The five other Cabinet ministers sworn in are Haryana BJP President Ram Bilas Sharma (MLA from Mahendargarh), Abhimanyu (Narnaund), Om Parkash Dhankar (Badli), Anil Vij (Ambala Cantt) and Narbir Singh (Badshahpur).
Three Ministers of State (Independent Charge) – Vikram Singh Thekedar (Kosli), Krishan Kumar Bedi (Shahabad SC) and Karan Dev Kamboj (Indri) – were also sworn in.
A number of Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Harsh Vardhan, Maneka Gandhi, V.K Singh, Ram Bilas Paswan, Ananth Kumar, Venkaiah Naidu, Krishan Pal Gujjar were present at the ceremony held at the Sector 5 HUDA Ground.
Opposition INLD was represented by Abhay Chautala. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal whose party SAD had opposed the BJP and backed INLD during the Assembly elections in Haryana despite being an NDA constituent also attended the ceremony.
On 21st October, Khattar was elected leader of BJP Legislature Party, two days after the party created history in Haryana storming to power for the first time on its own in the state.
In a departure from past when swearing-in ceremonies were held at Chandigarh, this time the event was held at Panchkula.
Born in Rohtak district, Khattar, a bachelor who once wanted to become a doctor, had contested the first Assembly elections from Karnal where he won by a margin of 63,736 votes.
He joined RSS as a full-time ‘Pracharak’ in 1980 and after 14 years of service to the Sangh, Khattar was moved to BJP as party General Secretary in Haryana in 1994.
Apart from his crucial role in the party’s success in states like Punjab, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, he was given prominent roles in various elections in different states where he always delivered results.
Bhajan Lal was the last non-Jat Chief Minister who held office from 1991 to 1996. After his exit Bansi Lal, Om Parkash Chautala (twice) and Bhupinder Singh Hooda (twice) were the Chief Ministers.
Earlier, B D Sharma, Rao Birender Singh, B D Gupta and Bhajan Lal were the other non-Jat Chief Ministers of Haryana, which was carved out as a separate state in 1966.
In the October 15 assembly polls, the saffron party won 47 seats while the rest were shared by INLD (19), Congress (15) and HJC-BL (2). BSP and SAD got one seat each while five were won by Independents. (PTI)
