Manohar Lal Khattar: From RSS Pracharak to Cabinet Minister, Embarks on New Chapter at 70

Chandigarh:

From his early days as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker to his role as Chief Minister in 2014, and now transitioning to a new chapter at 70, Manohar Lal Khattar has had a remarkable journey.

Khattar joined the RSS as a permanent member in 1977, dedicating 17 years to the organization before becoming a member of the BJP in 1994.

In 2014, he was elected as an MLA for the first time and soon after, was appointed Chief Minister of Haryana by the BJP. A decade later, in March 2024, he was succeeded by his confidante, Nayab Singh Saini, allowing Khattar to pursue a role as a Member of Parliament.

Running for his first Lok Sabha election from Karnal, Khattar achieved a significant victory over Congress’s Divyanshu Budhiraja with a margin of over 2.35 lakh votes.

Khattar is reputed to have a close relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom he worked in the party organization during the 1990s.

A lifelong bachelor, Khattar has spent nearly 40 years as an RSS pracharak.

In 1996, he began collaborating with Narendra Modi, who was then in charge of the BJP’s Haryana unit.

Khattar hails from an agricultural family that migrated to Haryana from Pakistan post-Partition. Born in 1954 in Nindana, a village in Haryana’s Rohtak district, his roots are deeply embedded in the region.

In 2014, when the BJP independently formed the government in Haryana for the first time, Khattar became the state’s first non-Jat Chief Minister in almost two decades, breaking the Jats’ long-standing political dominance.

Khattar’s first term as Chief Minister (2014-2019) was marred by criticism for his handling of the February 2016 Jat quota agitation, which led to widespread violence and arson in several parts of the state.

Further violence erupted in 2017 following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in Panchkula for raping two disciples.

During his second term, which lasted four-and-a-half years, the BJP relied on support from the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) after falling short of a majority in the 2019 assembly elections.

Khattar’s government faced significant criticism over the farmers’ protests against now-repealed farm laws during his second tenure.

Throughout his two terms, Khattar was credited with implementing pre-qualification conditions for panchayat election candidates and ensuring transparent recruitment processes.

He also introduced the ‘Parivar Pehchan Patra’ scheme, providing a unique family identity to every household in Haryana.

Khattar was acknowledged for maintaining cordial relations with the JJP, although the alliance dissolved after his replacement as Chief Minister.

Regarding the appointment of Nayab Saini as Chief Minister in March, Khattar stated that the transition was not abrupt and that he had recommended Saini’s name to PM Modi over a year prior.

“When I had served as the Chief Minister for eight to eight-and-a-half years, I told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that handing over the baton willingly is a matter of great happiness. I mentioned this about myself more than a year ago,” Khattar explained.

Sworn into the new Union Cabinet on Sunday, the seasoned BJP leader is now set to embark on his new journey as a parliamentarian and Union Minister.