New Delhi: Manohar Lal Khattar’s move to expand his cabinet saw Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLA Devender Singh Babli, who had defeated the BJP’s Haryana president during the elections, become a minister. His inclusion is an attempt by the BJP-JJP government to pacify the farmers and to strengthen the alliance in the state.
With the expansion, there are now 14 ministers in the cabinet. BJP’s Hisar MLA Kamal Gupta has also been inducted along with Tohana MLA Babli. There are now three JJP leaders in the cabinet up to three: Babli; party leader Dushyant Chautala, who is also the deputy chief minister; and Anoop Dhanak, the MLA from Uklana.
While there are still nearly three years to go for the next assembly elections in the state, analysts say the expansion is an attempt by the BJP to try and reverse any losses prompted by the farmers’ agitation against the three contentious laws. The agitation had greatly divided the polity in the state and many leaders from the ruling alliance too had voiced their opposition to the manner in which the laws were passed and the subsequent protests were handled by the Khattar government.
In fact, Babli was among those leaders who had openly criticised the Khattar government for the way it dealt with the farmers during their protest. A Jat leader, whose grandfather Captain Umrao Singh was a member of the Azad Hind Fauj that was led by Subhas Chandra Bose, he had also taken on Chautala in the matter.
His inclusion in the cabinet also assumes significance since he had openly called the Khattar government the “most corrupt” and declared that he was ashamed to be a part of a regime in which no one cared for the people. Reacting to the high-handed manner in which the police had dealt with the protesting farmers, he had in 2020 also termed the cops “vardi wale gunday” or hooligans in uniform.
But later, the Tohana MLA faced the wrath of farmers after he allegedly used abusive language against a group of farmers.
However, the Khattar government has decided to rope in Babli as he wields significant influence in the western and central parts of the state. In fact, his victory over BJP state president Subhash Barala by over 53,000 votes in the 2019 assembly elections was a clear indicator of the clout he has over the masses in the region.
Another aspect of the expansion is that the BJP-JJP alliance has consciously given greater representation to the Hisar division. Apart from Chautala, Babli and Dhanak, an Independent legislator and minister, Ranjit Chautala, who represents Rania in Sirsa, is also from the region. The fact that the Hisar-Sirsa belt had witnessed strong protests over the farm laws and in many places the protesters had even picketed the residences and meeting venues of the BJP-JJP leaders is seen as a reason which may have prompted the induction of Babli into the cabinet.
The saffron party realises that while it is in a comfortable position at present as far as the support of the MLAs goes, things can change quickly. In the polls to the 90-member House, the BJP had won 40 seats. It had formed the government with the support of 10 JJP MLAs. However, following the farmers’ agitation, six of the JJP MLAs had caused a stir when they issued an “ultimatum” to their leadership to raise the issue before the Union government.
Realising that these legislators could dump the alliance, the Khattar government has through the latest cabinet expansion signalled that it is prepared to work with dissident voices too.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the cabinet expansion would not change the government’s functioning in any way. Insisting that it has “already failed on all fronts,” he added that the only yardstick of measuring any government was whether it was efficient or not.