Khattar to head first BJP Chief Minister in Haryana

Chandigarh, October 22, 2014 (Agencies) Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak Manohar Lal Khattar will be the next chief minister of Haryana, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced here on Tuesday.  The 60-year-old bachelor will take oath of office on October 26 in Panchkula.  The saffron party’s decision to coronate a non-Jat Punjabi as the chief minister marks a paradigm shift in the political discourse of a state where the majority Jats have long determined the political narrative. This was Khattar’s first election and he will be the first Punjabi chief minister of the Jatland. He won the Punjabi-dominated urban seat from Karnal by a huge margin of over 63,000



votes.

Haryana has seen Jat chief minister’s in the last four successive governments. Khattar is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also enjoys the support of the RSS. The decision to name Khattar as the chief minister was taken after a meeting of the BJP Legislative Party. Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu chaired the meeting of the 47 newly elected MLAs in Chandigarh on Tuesday. The welcome accorded to Khattar on his arrival at the UT Guest House, the venue for the meeting, made it evident that he would be announced the chief minister shortly.

Khattar’s name for the coveted post was first recommended by state BJP unit president Ram Bilas Sharma and eventually found support from all the others.