Manohar Lal Khattar to be first BJP CM of Haryana

Manohar Lal Khattar, a low-profile organisation man with active RSS background and a non-Jat, was today chosen by the BJP to be its first Chief Minister of Haryana, a state dominated by Jat politics for long.

60-year-old Khattar, the first Punjabi and a first- time MLA, was elected leader of the 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.

B D Sharma, Rao Birender Singh, B D Gupta and Bhajan Lal were the other non-Jat Chief Ministers of Haryana in five decades of its existence.

The election came at a meeting of 47 newly-elected MLAs at the Chandigarh UT Guest House, Parliamentary Affairs Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and party Vice President Dinesh Sharma, who attended the meeting as central observers, told reporters.

Khattar, a bachelor, who once wanted to become a doctor, has almost 40 years of active and dedicated service to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of State BJP chief Ram Bilas Sharma, the MLA from Mahendergarh, who was also a Chief Ministerial aspirant.

"In the meeting, Sharma proposed Khattar's name and others including (MLAs) Capt Abhimanyu, Anil Vij, O P Dhankar (who were also CM aspirants), Kavita Jain and others supported it.

"Khattar was unanimously chosen as the leader of the Haryana BJP legislature party," Naidu told the media.

In the afternoon, accompanied by a delegation comprising Naidu, Dinesh Sharma, party leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Jagdish Mukhi, Anil Jain, Ram Bilas Sharma, Capt Abhimanyu, Khattar reached the Raj Bhawan and handed over a letter to Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki staking claim to form the next government.

The Governor accepted the claim and invited Khattar to form the governmen. He will take oath on October 26.

In a departure from the past when oath ceremonies of the Chief Ministers were held at Chandigarh, this time the function will be held at Tau Devi Lal stadium, Panchkula, in the morning.