New Delhi/Chandigarh: After its stunning victory in the Haryana Assembly polls, the BJP on Sunday formed its first government in the state with Manohar Lal Khattar, a former RSS pracharak, sworn in as its 10th chief minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Cabinet colleagues and senior BJP leaders, including party chief Amit Shah and veteran leaders like L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, among others, attended the function at Panchkula. Mr Khattar is considered close to Mr Modi, with whom he had worked for many years in the early 1990s.
Read: Manohar Lal Khattar - From RSS pracharak to Haryana CM
Soon after Mr Khattar, 60, was administered the oath by governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Mr Modi tweeted: “Congratulations to Manohar Lal Khattar on taking oath as Haryana CM... I wish Manohar Lal Khattar & his team the very best in taking Haryana to new heights of progress in the coming years.”
Within hours, Mr Khattar presided over his first meeting with secretaries and heads of government departments. The CMs of several NDA-ruled states attended the function.
Mr Khattar, a Punjabi, is the state’s first non-Jat CM after Bhajan Lal (1991-1996). Six Cabinet ministers, including a woman (Kavita Jain, Sonepat MLA), and three ministers of state (independent charge) were sworn in along with the CM.
Former CM Bhupender Singh Hooda did not attend the ceremony, saying he had not been invited, but the INLD’s Abhay Chautala was present at the function.
Read: Former Haryana CM Bhoopinder Singh Hooda says not invited for swearing in
Unlike in the past, the oath-taking ceremony was not held at the Haryana Raj Bhavan but at the Mela Ground in Panchkula. Thousands of BJP supporters had gathered to participate in the event for which unprecedented security measures were put in place.
Mr Khattar, who BJP leaders describe as a low profile but a hard task matter, is a first time MLA from Karnal, from where Mr Modi had launched his election campaign for the assembly elections. Known for his organisational skills, Mr Khattar had worked with Mr Modi during the latter’s tenure as Haryana’s incharge in the 90’s. Mr Khattar was also the in-charge of the election committee for the Lok Sabha elections in which BJP scored its highest parliamentary seats in the state. In 2002, he was given the charge of Jammu and Kashmir as the state’s election in-charge.
The five other cabinet ministers sworn in were Haryana BJP state unit chief Ram Bilas Sharma (MLA from Mahendargarh), Captain 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.
Union ministers who attended the ceremony also included Mr Rajnath Singh, Ms Sushma Swaraj, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ms Maneka Gandhi, Mr V K Singh, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr Ananth Kumar, Mr M Venkaiah Naidu and Mr Krishan Pal Gujjar.
In the 90-member Haryana assembly, BJP bagged 47 seats, INLD won 19 seats, Congress 15 seats, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC BL) won 2 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) managed 1 seat and five seats went to independent candidates
