CHANDIGARH: He may not be the Haryana chief minister, but 47-year-old ex-serviceman Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu is certainly the second most powerful man in the new state government.
A prominent Jat face in the government, Abhimanyu is also a BJP national spokesperson. Abhimanyu’s importance is underlined by the fact that the Jat vote is highly important to the BJP, not only in Haryana but in adjoining Rajasthan and UP. The urbane Abhimanyu is meant to bridge the gap between the Jats and the non-Jats as well as the powerful khaps that dominate vote bank politics. His significance is clear given the fact that he holds the largest number of portfolios in the Khattar government—13 departments, including finance, industries and commerce, environment, revenue and law, after chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar who holds 17 portfolios.
The way in which Abhimanyu has been handed over key charges clearly indicates his closeness to BJP national president Amit Shah. He had worked with Shah in Uttar Pradesh during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Shah had virtually endorsed him as the Haryana chief minister during the election campaign.
During its poll campaign in Haryana, the BJP managed to make in-roads into the Jat vote bank to some extent as six of its Jat candidates won. Using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, the party was able to woo the Jat youth. The Jats are an important vote bank as they make 25 per cent of the vote share in the state and the saffron party has kept the community happy by giving significant portfolios to Abhimanyu.
Dressed in a white kurta pajama and Nehru jacket, Captain Abhimanyu navigates a hectic day meeting people, officials and holding meetings at his sixth floor office in the Haryana Secretariat. “My main focus will be transparency and accountability in all the departments under me. The real owners of the state are its people and a representative of the people is only a custodian of their interests,’’ said Abhimanyu, the Haryana state finance minister.
He said that functioning of the department would be made online and paperless so as to increase transparency. He also plans to make tender process of Excise Department available online from next year. On being asked about the debt on the state, Abhimanyu agreed the situation was serious, but said it could be decreased by accelerating industrial growth in the state. “So far, no growth in the industrial sector has been the main reason for generation of less revenue,” he added.
“The BJP government would fulfil all promises made to the people of Haryana,’’ he said. “To revive the economy of the state, we will focus on plugging leakage and finishing corruption at all levels as well as revive the industries, especially the manufacturing sector,’’ he said.
The Captain, who served in the Indian Army for six years and was decorated with Special Services Medal, is also the richest among all ministers with declared assets of more than `74.8 crore. He owns eight vehicles that are in his name with another three registered in his wife’s name. In the past, he has proved his mettle as the national spokesperson of the party and is a favourite of the party top brass.
A father of three, Abhimanyu also holds a degree in law and is pursuing a business management course from Harvard University at present. Despite his wealth and political clout, he lives a simple life. He has light breakfast in the morning that comprises roti, chutney, curd and milk. He skips lunch and has fruits and lemon tea throughout the day. This pure vegetarian’s dinner is the regular dal, roti, sabzi with salad. Besides this, the pious family conducts a havan at their residence every day.
As an active Arya Samaji social reformer, Abhimanyu has been involved in setting up Arya Samaj gurukuls, shuddhikaran of tribals and has served on All-India D A V Schools and Colleges managing committee. He holds a master’s degree in Mass Communications and is the founder of the Hindi daily newspaper Hari Bhoomi. The Haryana Sahitya Akademi bestowed him with Babu Bal Mukund Gupt award for journalism.
Before entering politics, Abhimanyu, a Jat leader, became a successful self-made entrepreneur as the founder-owner, director and chairman of several companies spanning a vast business empire across India in coal mining, power generation, transport, finance and share broking, education and the media.
