Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar: ‘Congress, INLD organisation weak; BJP immensely strong even at grassroots’

In 2014, the people were fed up of the Congress’s corruption and misgovernance and the BJP had pledged to uproot such a government. Amid a strong Narendra Modi wave across the country, the BJP gave two seats to ally HJC (Haryana Janhit Congress) in Haryana. Out of eight seats the BJP contested, we won seven. This is a fit example that the BJP is on top of people’s mind in the Lok Sabha polls.

This time, the BJP on its own will win all 10 seats in Haryana. Besides being in power, the BJP is in a strong position in all districts of the state. While traditional political parties such as the Congress and the INLD have failed in their organisational structures, the BJP has become immensely strong down to the grassroots level.

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During your tenure, there were three major law and order problems, which the administration was unable to control —Rampal’s arrest, the Jat agitation, and the Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s arrest. Will this not work against the BJP in 2019?

Giving preference to the safety of the people, the BJP government implemented the court’s directions, arrested Rampal and produced him in court. Similarly, it was the government’s responsibility to implement the court’s directions and produce Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in court with minimum possible damage.

As far as the Jat agitation is concerned, it was the result of the mindset of certain people with vested political interests. For the first time in Haryana, a government, accepting the demands of a particular community, completed all procedural formalities in a constructive manner and assured to take up the matter with the Centre. Yet, there was violence. At that time too, the government’s priority was to prevent a large part of the state from getting burnt…. The BJP government has taken legally tenable steps; hatred against anybody has never been our aim.

Unlike your predecessors, you are a relatively low-key CM and do not advertise yourself.

For any Chief Minister, the first priority is (taking care of) people’s interests. Whatever the previous chief ministers of Haryana did to project themselves as “No. 1”, I never had any such personal intention. In the past, chief ministers indulged in number-games, they would make announcements, and then get busy in their publicity. But we do not believe in such traditions. The BJP (government) made proposals and extended the benefits to the people.

After that, when beneficiaries publicise our work among the people, there is no requirement for us to publicise anything further. Rather than promoting myself, more important (aspect) for me is to ensure doing work…

Apart from the Modi factor, what else is the BJP’s plus-point in Haryana?

Each Haryanvi is happy that Haryana retained its No. 1 position due to the schemes initiated by the Narendra Modi government. There have been schemes such as direct benefit transfer, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ujjawala yojana, PMKVY (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana for skill development), etc, as well as digitisation of government’s functioning has enhanced administrative efficiency in the state.

Transparency in government jobs, unemployment allowance to the youth, online transfer policy, transparency in change of land-use policies, single-window system, etc are schemes important for us. The people ensured the BJP’s victory in successive elections as a result of all these policies.