Ready for simultaneous Lok Sabha, Haryana polls: Khattar

NEW DELHI: Haryana is ready for simultaneous elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha if the Election Commission (EC) so decides, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday.

“It is the prerogative of the poll panel when and how to conduct elections. We are not saying this, if the Election Commission says that both Lok Sabha and state assembly elections should be conducted simultaneously, we are ready for it,” Khattar said. He added that simultaneous polls would be beneficial for the country and hoped that by 2024 this could be done once the major national parties are on same page.

Khattar claimed that his government has provided a “graft-free and transparent” administration and cited delegation of powers of granting permission for ‘change of land use’ (CLU) to the town and country planning department as one such step. This power was with the chief minister’s office since 1992. “I never used power for BBC - bharti (filling posts), bhrastachar (corruption) and CLU - which Congress was known for,” the CM said taking a swipe at his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

At a press conference to mark his government’s fourth anniversary, the CM focussed on his evolution from being a social worker to the hot seat of the top job in Haryana. He claimed he is not a political person. “For others, hunger of power is power only. For me, requirement of power is for social service. Society is my family,” he said.