3 more may join Khattar Cabinet

Naveen S Garewal 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 21

Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar will reshuffle his Cabinet tomorrow. While Banwari Lal, Manish Grover and Vipul Goyal — Bawal, Rohtak and Faridabad legislators, respectively — are likely to be inducted as ministers, the axe may fall on two or more ministers perceived by the Khattar government as a liability. 

They are Ghanshyam Saraf, Bhiwani MLA, and Bikram Singh Thekedar, who represents Kosli.

Goyal is reportedly being inducted as Cabinet Minister and Banwari Lal and Grover as Ministers of State. Grover had emerged victorious in Hooda’s stronghold of Rohtak. He is said to be close to the Chief Minister. 

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The new ministers may be administered oath tomorrow, say sources.

Khattar, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi recently, is believed to have obtained their approval for the reshuffle after a detailed discussion on the performance of each of the ministers.

Anil Jain, the BJP incharge for Haryana affairs, too, had held interaction with the ministers to assess their work. The Cabinet expansion was to be held much earlier, but was delayed owing to the reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, the sources said.

The Khattar government has faced flak for its ‘failure’ to handle the Jat quota agitation and the subsequent violence in February this year. The Prakash Singh committee that probed the violence has blamed senior officers for allowing the situation to deteriorate.

Sources said the two Jat ministers in the Khattar Cabinet may be divested of some portfolios, which may be allotted to the new ministers. Those likely to be inducted are camping in Delhi.