After the historic victory in Haryana, BJP’s focus has now shifted to the formation of a new government in the state. Today (Thursday) a meeting of the newly elected legislative party of BJP is going to be held, in which all 48 MLAs will attend. It is believed that government formation may be discussed in this meeting but the final decision will be taken by the central leadership. However, there is a discussion within the party as to how many and which ministers from which caste can be there in the state while maintaining caste sanitisation.
Nayab Singh Saini will be the head of the new government, BJP has already approved this. Naib Singh Saini had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day earlier. Now brainstorming is going on on the names of ministers in his government. There can be a maximum of 14 ministers including the Chief Minister. Only two ministers of the previous government (Moolchand Sharma and Mahipal Dhanda) have been able to save their seats, hence 11 new faces can be included in the cabinet and the search for them has intensified. The party is also taking care of caste equations for this.
Dalit community has played an important role in BJP’s historic victory. BJP has won 9 out of total 17 reserved seats in the state. Therefore their representation in the new government cannot be ignored. According to the election results data, eight MLAs of Punjabi origin, seven from Brahmin community, six each from Jat and Yadav communities have won. Apart from these, there are also Gurjar, Rajput, Vaishya and one OBC MLA.
Who from which community can become a minister?
Among Dalit MLAs, Krishnalal Panwar is a six-time MLA, while Krishna Bedi is a two-time MLA. The names of these two are being discussed for the post of minister. One name among the eight MLAs of Punjabi origin is Anil Vij, who is the former Home Minister of the state and a seven-time MLA. He got angry in March this year, when Naib Singh Saini was made the CM in place of Khattar. Jind MLA Krishnan Middha is also from the same community, who has won from this seat for the third time. Apart from these, names of two more leaders from this community are being discussed. These include the names of Ghanshyam Das Arora from Yamunanagar and Vinod Bhayana, MLA from Hansi. Arora’s card may be cut because he geographically comes from Ambala region, whereas Anil Vij’s claim from there is already considered strong.
Who is discussed in Brahmin and Jat community?
Moolchand Sharma, who has been a three-time MLA from Ballabhgarh from the Brahmin community, can be retained in the cabinet. According to the report of NDTV, apart from these, the name of Arvind Sharma is also possible, who has been a Lok Sabha MP twice and who has won the Gohana seat. Apart from these, the name of Ram Gautam, who won the Safido seat, which the BJP had never won, is also doing the rounds.
Six BJP MLAs have won from Ahirwal belt. This area voted overwhelmingly for BJP, hence keeping in mind the caste and regional equations, the name of six-time MLA from Badshahpur, Rao Narbir Singh, is coming forward for the post of minister. He has been a cabinet minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar government in 2014. Apart from these, Aarti Rao, daughter of Union Minister Rao Inderjit, has won the Ateli seat for the first time, her name is also being discussed. Laxman Yadav, who has been MLA twice, is also said to be in the race.
Who will be the minister from Jat community?
Jat leader Mahipal Dhanda was a minister in the outgoing Saini government. He won again from Panipat (Rural). There is a possibility of retaining him in the cabinet. Krishna Gehlawat, elected for the second time from Rai, is also said to be in this race. Apart from these, Shruti Choudhary, daughter of Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Choudhary and granddaughter of former Chief Minister Bansilal, who won from Tosham, is also named among the possible faces of ministers. Other possible names include former minister Vipul Goyal from the Vaishya community. One big name is Savitri Jindal, India’s richest woman and independent MLA from Hisar, who formally announced her support to BJP yesterday.
Shyam Singh Rana and three-time MLA Harvinder Kalyan from Rajput community can be made ministers. Apart from this, Ranbir Gangwa can represent the OBC community; He was the deputy speaker in the previous government. Rajesh Nagar, two-time MLA from Tigaon, may be included in the cabinet as a Gurjar face.
