BJP fields Khattar from Karnal a day after he quit as Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar, ex-Chief Minister of Haryana, had a roller coaster ride since he assumed office nearly a decade back. A close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has been declared as the BJP candidate from the Karnal seat and may play an important role at the Centre, either in the party or as a union minister.
Though Khattar, a Khatri Punjabi, was born in Rohtak his support base is in Karnal. He was an MLA from the Karnal Assembly seat. While his nomination for the Lok Sabha seat was being discussed since he was replaced as CM, it is clear that if he wins and the BJP-led NDA gets a third term he is likely to be a part of the Cabinet. Some party leaders also maintain that he is now among the top contenders for the BJP President’s post after JP Nadda completes his extended term later this year.
Khattar is the second ex-chief minister to be given a Lok Sabha ticket after Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is contesting from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.
While the decision to make him CM in 2014 came as a surprise to some as the state has usually been ruled by a Jat leader (Bhajan Lal was an exception), he faced challenges from within the ranks as well as major protests like the Jat reservation agitation and the unrest following the arrest of Baba Ram Rahim Singh.
As a counter to Congress and INLD which gave primacy to the Jat community in Haryana, BJP has courted the non-Jat votes in Haryana. Khattar, a Khatri Punjabi by caste, was chosen by the saffron party to head its first government in the state. His
