HARYANA Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday inducted eight BJP MLAs into his Council of Ministers, seven of them new faces, in its first expansion a week after he took charge replacing Manohar Lal Khattar. Senior BJP leader and former Home Minister Anil Vij did not find a place in the Saini-led Cabinet, though his name was said to have figured in the initial list of ministers. Saini and five Ministers took oath last week. Haryana can have a maximum of 14 Ministers, including the Chief Minister. Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at the Raj Bhawan here. Chief Minister Saini and his predecessor Khattar were present in the ceremony. BJP MLA from the Hisar constituency Kamal Gupta was the first one to be administered oath as Cabinet minister.

 

Seven new faces, including Badkhal MLA Seema Trikha, were inducted as Ministers of State (independent charge). Trikha is the lone woman in the council of ministers. The remaining new ministers are Panipat Rural MLA Mahipal Dhanda, Ambala City MLA Aseem Goel, Nangal Chaudhary MLA Abhe Singh Yadav, Thanesar MLA Subhash Sudha, Bawani Khera MLA Bishamber Singh Balmiki, and Sohna MLA Sanjay Singh. On March 12, five ministers who had taken oath were BJP’s Kanwar Pal (Jagadhari), Mool Chand Sharma (Ballabhgarh), Jai Parkash Dalal (Loharu) and Banwari Lal (Bawal), and Independent MLA Ranjit Singh Chautala (Rania in Sirsa).

 

These five, who took oath last week, and Kamal Gupta were also ministers in the previous Khattar led Cabinet. In a surprise move last week, the BJP replaced Khattar with OBC leader Saini as Haryana Chief Minister in a swift switch in the state, just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Among the ministers in the Khattar Cabinet who did not find a place in the Saini Ministry are Vij, Kamlesh Dhanda and Sandeep Singh. Besides, three ministers including former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala were part of the Khattar Cabinet. Chautala’s JJP and the BJP are set to contest the polls separately now.