BJP-JJP govt in Haryana expands cabinet, leaves many perplexed
More than a fortnight after the newly stitched BJP-JJP coalition formed the government in Haryana, governor Satyadeo Narain Arya on Thursday administered oath of office and secrecy to 10 more MLAs as ministers at Raj Bhavan, taking the number of ministers in the council of ministers to 12. Both Khattar and Dushyant Chautala were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively on October 27. There can be a maximum of 13 ministers including the chief minister in Haryana as per the 15% cap stipulated under Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution. The ministers were also allocated portfolios in the evening.
The inductions though has left a lot to be desired even as chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar tried to work out a caste and regional balance. Many of the faces sworn in on Thursday left the BJP cadres perplexed. The Council of Ministers now has four Jat ministers, three ministers from the backward classes, two from the scheduled castes, two Punjabis and one Brahmin minister. There is not a single minister from the Vaish community. Among the 10 ministerial berths filled up on Thursday, the BJP got eight while its post-poll ally, the JJP got one. An Independent MLA, Ranjit Singh was also inducted in the cabinet.
Six MLAs — Anil Vij, Kanwar
Pal, Mool Chand Sharma, JP Dalal and Banwari Lal ( all BJP) and Ranjit Singh (Independent) — were given the status and rank of senior cabinet ministers while the remaining four – OP Yadav, Kamlesh Dhanda, Sandeep Singh (all BJP) and Anoop Dhanak (JJP) — were given the rank of ministers of state with independent charge.
A number of senior MLAs from the BJP camp — Kamal Gupta, Seema Trikha, Abhe Singh Yadav — did not make it as members of the council of ministers despite having strong claims on the basis of seniority. From the JJP camp, the exclusion of Narnaund MLA, Ram Kumar Gautam came as a surprise. Among the surprise inclusions in the cabinet were BJP MLAs — JP Dalal (Loharu), woman MLA, Kamlesh Dhanda (Kalayat), former India hockey skipper Sandeep Singh (Pehowa) and Independent
MLA from Rania, Ranjit Singh. Dalal, Sandeep and Ranjit, sources said, were the choices of BJP’s central high command.
AMONG 10 MINISTERIAL BERTHS FILLED ON THURSDAY, BJP GOT 8 WHILE ITS POST-POLL ALLY GOT ONE
CASTE AND REGION MATRIX
Anil Vij is a Punjabi -Khatri from Ambala Cantt and Banwari Lal belongs to a scheduled caste from Bawal in Rewari. Kanwar Pal is a Gujjar from Jagadhri in Yamunanagar, Mool Chand Sharma is a Brahmin from Ballabhgarh in Faridabad, JP Dalal is a Jat from Loharu in Bhiwani and Ranjit Singh is a Jat from Rania in Sirsa. OP Yadav is an Ahir from Narnaul in southern Haryana, Kamlesh Dhanda is a Jat from Kalayat in Kaithal, Anoop Dhanak comes from a scheduled caste and is from Uklana in Hisar and Sandeep Singh is a backward class Sikh from Pehowa.
Kanwar Pal, 59, is a BJP’s MLA from Jagadhri. He has studied up to BA II. Kanwar Pal was speaker of Haryana Vidhan Sabha in the previous BJP government. Inspired by Sadhvi Ritambara, he had jumped into the Ram Janam Bhumi movement in 1989 and joined the BJP in 1990. The third-term legislator and soft spoken Kanwar Pal will be among the handful of experienced cabinet rank ministers in the BJP-JJP coalition government.