The tasks of governance

October 24, 2014 02:23 am | Updated November 28, 2021 09:13 pm IST

It is not often that a first-time legislator gets to be Chief Minister. In Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar was chosen by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the top job not for his legislative experience or administrative expertise, but for his organisational skill and political savvy. Mr. Khattar joined the BJP from the ranks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, where he was an active pracharak, and was put in charge of the party’s affairs in several States in the last two decades. In Haryana, his inputs went into the BJP’s making and breaking of alliances with some of the regional parties — the Haryana Vikas Party, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Haryana Janhit Congress. With every new alliance the BJP grew stronger, until in the latest Assembly election it found the confidence to fight on its own. At least some of the credit for the party’s growth in the State at the expense of its allies should go to Mr. Khattar. In many ways, this is a reward for Mr. Khattar, a form of recognition for his efforts to overcome the BJP’s weaknesses in Haryana. It is also an expression of gratitude by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah team to Mr. Khattar for his having worked closely with them. Mr. Modi was himself an organisation man before he became Chief Minister of Gujarat, and he would have seen Mr. Khattar as embodying some of his own abilities that go beyond mere tact and rhetoric.

In choosing Mr. Khattar over other aspirants, the BJP also signalled that it was not getting into the game of playing the Jat card in Haryana. Jats constitute a dominant caste group in the State, and large sections of them now form the backbone of the Indian National Lok Dal led by Om Prakash Chautala, which finished second behind the BJP. But for the BJP, as for the Congress, the support base is more diverse, and the choice of Mr. Khattar reflects this fact. As is the normal practice in the BJP, the candidature was proposed and endorsed by the principal rivals for the Chief Minister’s post. While State party chief Ram Bilas Sharma proposed his name, Captain Abhimanyu was among those who seconded the proposal. Mr. Khattar will now have to shift his focus to governance from political manoeuvres. Haryana is a small State, but the challenges for the new government are formidable. Food security, employment opportunities, rural development and prevention of female foeticide are issues that cry out for attention — more than cow slaughter or free pilgrimages, which too figured in the BJP’s election manifesto. Mr. Khattar in office is soon going to realise that expanding the support base as an Opposition party is easier than consolidating it as a ruling party. After the smooth takeover, he must focus on governance and meeting the expectations behind the mandate.

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