Gurgaon: Haryana had a lot to cheer at the oath-taking ceremony of the new Narendra Modi government on Thursday, after three of the 10 MPs — all BJP — from the small state were selected for the Union cabinet. Their portfolios, though, are yet to be officially announced.
Among the nine who took oath as minister of state (MoS) was five-time Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh (69). His Faridabad counterpart Krishan Pal Gurjar, too, has been appointed MoS, while Rattan Lal Kataria, who defeated Kumari Selja of Congress from Ambala’s reserved seat, is the third MoS from the state. Of them, only Rao Inderjit is an MoS with independent charge, though.
In the previous Modi government, Inderjit was MoS (independent charge) for Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation, as well as MoS for Defence; and Chemicals and Fertilisers. Then too, Haryana had two other representatives in the cabinet — Birender Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar. However, Birender Singh stepped down after the party decided to field his son, former IAS Brijendra Singh from Hisar. The son went on to beat Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) chief Dushyant Chautala.
While it was expected that Inderjit will be inducted in the Modi cabinet, it remains to be seen if he is given a new portfolio, or handed over the ones he previously held. “This is the first time BJP has won a majority of seats that are considered Jat strongholds. There were expectations that some other faces from Haryana, especially those who defeated prominent Congress leaders — like Sunita Duggal, who defeated state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar in Sirsa, or Ramesh Chander Kaushik, who beat former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda — might get ministries. However, it appears the party wanted a Dalit face, and therefore chose Rattan Lal Kataria,” said a senior BJP leader.
With Inderjit becoming a minister at the Centre yet again, he is likely to have more say on distribution of tickets for the forthcoming assembly election, to be held in October this year.
Among the nine who took oath as minister of state (MoS) was five-time Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh (69). His Faridabad counterpart Krishan Pal Gurjar, too, has been appointed MoS, while Rattan Lal Kataria, who defeated Kumari Selja of Congress from Ambala’s reserved seat, is the third MoS from the state. Of them, only Rao Inderjit is an MoS with independent charge, though.
In the previous Modi government, Inderjit was MoS (independent charge) for Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation, as well as MoS for Defence; and Chemicals and Fertilisers. Then too, Haryana had two other representatives in the cabinet — Birender Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar. However, Birender Singh stepped down after the party decided to field his son, former IAS Brijendra Singh from Hisar. The son went on to beat Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) chief Dushyant Chautala.
While it was expected that Inderjit will be inducted in the Modi cabinet, it remains to be seen if he is given a new portfolio, or handed over the ones he previously held. “This is the first time BJP has won a majority of seats that are considered Jat strongholds. There were expectations that some other faces from Haryana, especially those who defeated prominent Congress leaders — like Sunita Duggal, who defeated state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar in Sirsa, or Ramesh Chander Kaushik, who beat former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda — might get ministries. However, it appears the party wanted a Dalit face, and therefore chose Rattan Lal Kataria,” said a senior BJP leader.
With Inderjit becoming a minister at the Centre yet again, he is likely to have more say on distribution of tickets for the forthcoming assembly election, to be held in October this year.
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