CHANDIGARH: There seems to be no end to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s problems. The violence during last week’s Jat reservation stir has left the state Cabinet divided into Jat and non-Jat groups. While non-Jat ministers Anil Vij, Karan Dev Kamboj and Krishan Kumar Bedi are unhappy over the loss of lives and property during the protests, Jat ministers Capt Abhimanyu and O P Dhankar are on the other side and speaking in a subdued tone.
Two more non-Jat ministers, Kavita Jain and Rao Narbir Singh, and a few BJP MLAs met the CM and demanded strict action against rioters and compensation to people who lost property during the stir, sources said.
The riots have also damaged the state’s ‘investor-friendly’ image. While the ‘Haryana Pravasi Diwas’ scheduled next month has been called off, the two-day ‘Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit’ from March 7 has been scaled down. High stakes are involved in the summit as the state is expecting to get an investment of `1 lakh crore.
Industry Minister Capt Abhimanyu downplayed the affect of the violence. “Despite the arson and violence, we don’t think that there is any negative sentiment as far as the investment in the state is concerned. We are going ahead with the summit,” he said. Earlier, Khattar and Capt Abhimanyu had travelled abroad to woo investors. The compensation scheme for cotton farmers has also been put on the back-burner, sources said.