Why PM Modi finds it so difficult to let go off Khattar
Shekhar Iyer, New Delhi, DH News Service, Aug 26 2017, 20:54 IST
Khattar, who belongs to the Punjabi community in the Jat dominated politics of Haryana, became the first non-Jat chief minister in 18 years. PTI file photo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's support for Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has remained unflinching despite his administrative record leaving everyone red in the face.
Through a lot of crises that Khattar has waded through, many BJP leaders have wondered why the PM has stuck with him.
Even in wake of the Ram Rahim verdict flare-up, Modi has decided, in consultation with party chief Amit Shah, that Khattar must not be displaced immediately though his exit in the future is not ruled out. Incidentally, Shah is no admirer of Khattar's political skills.
However, it is not the first time that Khattar has faced such criticism. His government has been slammed for its mishandling of the Jat agitation in 2016 and the violence at Sant Rampal's ashram in Hissar in 2014 as soon as he became CM.
Modi's support for Khattar has remained steadfast throughout. His tenure as CM has seen his cabinet colleagues question him often and many BJP leaders raise doubts about his political ability to handle crises. Khattar has managed to plough on.
Like Modi, Khattar did not have any legislative or administrative experience before he became CM. Similarly, like Modi, Khattar contested the assembly elections for the first time from Karnal and won to become CM.
When Modi chose Khattar to be CM after the BJP came to power in the state for the first time, it was supposedly intended to keep other claimants - Captain Abhimanyu, Krishanpal Gurjar and Ram Bilas Sharma --at bay.It was also to help in the consolidation of non-Jats votes for BJP.
Khattar, who belongs to the Punjabi community in the Jat dominated politics of Haryana, became the first non-Jat chief minister in 18 years. His family had migrated from Pakistan and re-settled in Rohtak after the Partition.
Many BJP leaders, however, thought that it was the result of a friendship that got cemented over the decades.
When Modi was made BJP in-charge in Haryana in 1996 (after he was asked to stay away from Gujarat), Khattar was RSS organising secretary looking after the state.
They shared room and meals. Khattar often prepared khichdi and both relished their meal together.
In 2001, Gujarat was hit by an earthquake which saw Modi replace Keshubhai Patel as CM. Modi deputed Khattar to Kutch district for relief and rebuilding work. Thirteen years later, Modi inducted him for election work when he contested from Varanasi.