Manohar Lal Khattar, the 60-year-old former RSS pracharak soon to take over as the Chief Minister of Haryana, would be a Narendra Modi man all the way, feel Sangh parivar insiders The Hindu spoke to.
With Mr. Khattar in place in Haryana, and Devendra Fadnavis likely to grab the top post in Maharashtra, Mr. Modi’s influence over State units of the party will be further consolidated.
“It will serve three purposes: weakening of the existing Jat-dominated, BJP leadership in Haryana led by Captain Abhimanyu, Ram Bilas Sharma and others; winning over and energising the RSS cadre; and creating a strong wall of support for Modi within the RSS,” says an RSS insider.
The move has infused new life among RSS cadres who now await their moment of glory while being dedicated workers.
Cadres were likely, sources said, to develop a natural affinity to Mr. Modi as someone who rewarded ground-level workers, even choosing them over established politicians for top posts.
“So if the RSS decides to check Modi ji, say, two years down the line, he will have a strong wall of support for himself within the organisation,” says a BJP worker on condition of anonymity.
He says someone like Mr. Khattar, a first time MLA who was named Chief Minister, would never be in a position to question Mr. Modi.
“He would be under the weight of this perceived largesse…for being made a mainstream leader.”
While his admirers know him as an extremely “simple, approachable, hard-working and thinking” person, Sangh sources believe the decision on Mr. Khattar’s appointment went beyond these obvious considerations.
“Mr. Khattar makes it convenient as well as comfortable for the central BJP leadership. Sharing a boundary with Delhi, Haryana needs to be monitored closely. Mr. Khattar wouldn’t protest being a rubber stamp while Mr. Modi sends in a strong Chief Secretary to carry out his mandate in the State,” says an RSS source.
Like Mr. Modi, Mr. Khattar also rose to being a pracharak, and would possibly learn from the Prime Minister the art of reticence, even though his conservative views on women’s rights and other sensitive issues like pre-marital sex are unlikely to be palatable to the youth constituents of the new India Mr. Modi plans to lead. But for the moment, the message from Mr. Modi is clear: be loyal and hang on; you never know when you could be rewarded.
