New Cabinet: OBCs lead with five slots, Brahmins, Dalits and Jats get two each
The BJP has tried to get its caste and region equations right in the new Council of Ministers. The OBCs have got substantial share in the new Council of Ministers with five of the ministers belonging to this category, including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the OBC face of the BJP.
Besides Saini, the OBC ministers included Rao Narbir Singh, a six-time MLA and a bête noire of Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh. Rao Inderjit Singh’s daughter Arti Rao, former Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangua and Rajesh Nagar are the other OBC faces in the new Cabinet.
BJP’s senior-most MLA Anil Vij is the only Punjabi face in the Cabinet though eight members from the community won the election for the party. Vipul Goel, a former minister, will be the lone Vaish community leader in the Cabinet. Two-time MLA Shyam Singh Rana is the only Rajput in the Cabinet.
The Dalit community will have two representatives in the ministry — six-time MLA Krishan Lal Panwar and two-time MLA Krishan Bedi, both former ministers and loyalists of former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The community has representation of eight in BJP’s 48 MLAs. From the Jat community’s six MLAs, three-time MLA Mahipal Dhanda and Shruti Chaudhry, daughter of Rajya Sabha member Kiran Chaudhry, have been included in the Cabinet.
The Brahmins, who netted seven seats for the BJP, got two representations in the new ministry with Gohana MLA and two-time MP Arvind Sharma getting the Cabinet berth and newcomer Gaurav Gautam getting the Minister of State rank.
Meanwhile, the GT Road belt, considered to be the gateway to power in Haryana, got five slots in the Cabinet. These included Saini (Ladwa), Vij (Ambala Cantt), Mahipal Dhanda (Panipat-Rural), Rana (Radaur) and Panwar (Israna). The BJP bagged 18 of the 29 seats in the GT Road belt.
The Ahirwal belt, another BJP stronghold, which returned 10 of 11 MLAs, had to content with just two slots with Arti Rao (Ateli) and Rao Narbir (Badshahpur) getting representation.
The party tried to give due representation to other areas like Bangar (Bedi-Narwana) and Deswali belt (Sharma-Gohana). While Gangua represented Hisar district, Shruti represented the Bhiwani district. The Faridabad district, another BJP stronghold, was represented by Goel, legislator from Faridabad. The Braj area (Palwal) was represented by Gautam in the new ministry.
Panchkula, Rohtak, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Rewari, Nuh, Jhajjar and Charkhi Dadri districts have gone unrepresented in the new ministry. The BJP has no MLAs in a majority of these districts. The BJP has tried to give ministry a ‘new look’ by inducing three newcomers — Arti, Shruti and Gautam — in the backdrop of at least 22 new faces winning the elections. BJP state president Mohan Lal Badoli claimed that the new Cabinet represented hopes and aspirations of the 36 ‘biradaris’ of Haryana.
SIDELIGHTS
- Of the two ministers from the previous Saini government who won this election, Mahipal Dhanda was awarded a Cabinet berth, while Mool Chand Sharma was dropped.
- Rao Inderjit Singh beamed with pride as his daughter, Arti Singh Rao, took her oath. Similarly, Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Choudhry watched with admiration as her daughter was sworn in as minister.
- All ministers took their oaths in Hindi, with the exception of Shruti Choudhry, who opted to take her oath in English.
- After the ceremony concluded, the newly inducted ministers were invited for a group photograph with PM. Vipul Goel, eager to join the photo, maneuvered his way between Dhanda and Arvind Sharma, ensuring he was included in the moment.
- Several CMs, including N. Chandrababu Naidu, Yogi Adityanath, Bhupendra Patel, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Neiphiu Rio, Pramod Sawant, Vishnu Deo Sai, Conrad Sangma and Pushkar Dhami were among those present.
- With the induction of 13 ministers, all berths have been filled and there is no vacancy. Haryana can have a maximum of 14 ministers, including the Chief Minister.
— Geetanjali Gayatri
