CHANDIGARH: The shadow of assembly polls in Haryana was visible as three state BJP leaders made their way to Team Modi-3. They are former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, former Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar from Faridabad and Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurugram. The assembly elections in Haryana are due later this year.
Khattar was elected as MP for the first time. Prior to the elections, the BJP replaced him as CM with Nayab Singh Saini. Khattar was accommodated in the cabinet due to his proximity to Modi, a fact publicly acknowledged by the PM.
Rao Inderjit Singh, a significant Yadav leader and MP from Gurugram has been inducted into the Modi Cabinet to strengthen the party’s influence in the Ahirwal region of Haryana.
Another leader and cabinet minister in the previous Modi dispensation, Krishan Pal Gurjar, MP from Faridabad, was also sworn in as minister.
From Punjab, the BJP has accommodated its former MP Ravneet Bittu, who lost from Ludhiana to Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Bittu, who switched from Congress, said he left the party because he wanted Punjab to have representation at Centre.
BJP chief JP Nadda, who belongs to the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, has been re-inducted. However, former Union minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur is dropped.
Bittu, who lost polls, chosen
From Punjab, the BJP has accommo-dated its former MP Ravneet Bittu, who lost from Ludhiana to Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. Bittu, who switched from Congress, said he left the party because he wanted Punjab to have representation at Centre.