Manohar Lal Khattar | |
|---|---|
 Khattar in 2026 | |
| Union Minister of Power | |
| Assumed office 10 June 2024 | |
| President | Droupadi Murmu |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | R. K. Singh |
| Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs | |
| Assumed office 10 June 2024 | |
| President | Droupadi Murmu |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Hardeep Singh Puri |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 4 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Sanjay Bhatia |
| Constituency | Karnal, Haryana |
| 10th Chief Minister of Haryana | |
| In office 26 October 2014 – 12 March 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Bhupinder Singh Hooda |
| Succeeded by | Nayab Singh Saini |
| Member ofHaryana Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 26 October 2014 – 13 March 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Sumita Singh |
| Succeeded by | Nayab Singh Saini |
| Constituency | Karnal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1954-05-05)5 May 1954 (age 71)[1] |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Residence |
|
| Alma mater | University of Delhi |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Website | manoharlalkhattar |
Manohar Lal Khattar (born 5 May 1954) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 19thMinister of Power and 4thMinister of Housing and Urban Affairs since 2024. A prominent leader of theBharatiya Janata Party, he has served as the10thChief Minister of Haryana from 26 October 2014 until his resignation on 12 March 2024 and also served as leader of the house in legislative assembly.
In the2024 Indian general election, he has been elected to theLok Sabha, thelower house of theParliament of India, fromKarnal,Haryana.[2] While serving as Chief Minister, he represented theKarnal constituency in theHaryana Legislative Assembly from 2014 to 2024.[3] He has also been aRSS pracharak and has served as the Organizational General Secretary of theBJP in Haryana from 2000 to 2014.
Khattar was born on 5 May 1954 inNindana village ofMeham tehsil in theRohtak district ofEast Punjab, India into aPunjabi Hindu family.[4][5] His father, Harbans Lal Khattar, had migrated to the village from theJhang district ofWest Punjab following thePartition of India in 1947. His family initially settled in the Banyanivillage ofRohtak district and took up farming.[6]
Khattar completed his matriculation (final year of high school) from Pandit Neki Ram SharmaGovernment College,Rohtak.[7] He then moved in with relatives inDelhi, and ran a cloth shop with them nearSadar Bazar[8] while completing his bachelor's degree fromUniversity of Delhi.[9]
Khattar joinedRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1977 and became a full-time pracharak three years later.[10] As a pracharak, he is a lifelong bachelor.[11] He worked as a full-time pracharak for 17 years before moving to BJP, in 1994.[10][7]
During 2000–2014, Khattar was Organizational General Secretary of the BJP in Haryana. during his tenure the state unit was also started a publication ofBhajpa Ki Baat magazine in October 2000.[12] He was the Chairman of BJP's Haryana Election Campaign Committee for2014 Lok Sabha Elections.[13] Subsequently, he became a member of BJP's National Executive Committee.[13][14]
In 2014, Khattar was nominated as BJP's candidate fromKarnal constituency for the Haryana Legislative Assembly election, 2014. The party's workers and supporters in Karnal launched a signature campaign, asking the party leadership to field a local candidate instead of him.[15] His opponent, theIndian National Congress candidate andDeepender Singh Hooda, accused Khattar of being an "outsider" not native to Karnal. But Modi wave helped Mr. Khattar win elections by heavy margin.[16]
In the elections, the BJP gained a majority in Haryana for the first time, and Khattar won his maiden election by a margin of 63,736 votes. During a party meeting, his name was proposed for theChief Minister of Haryana post by Haryana BJP PresidentRam Bilas Sharma, seconded by other strong Chief Minister of Haryana claimantRao Inderjeet Singh and supported by manyMLAs. He became the BJP's first Chief Minister of Haryana after his swearing-in ceremony on 26 October 2014.[17][18]
On 27 October 2019, Khattar was sworn in as the chief minister for the second time, after making an alliance withDushyant Chautala'sJannayak Janta Party post2019 Haryana Legislative Assembly election.[19][20]
Khattar submitted his resignation to Haryana GovernorBandaru Dattatreya on 12 March 2024 after the development came amid speculation of cracks emerging in the state's ruling BJP andJannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition over seat sharing ahead of the2024 Lok Sabha elections,[21] and on 13 March he tendered his resignation from the Haryana Legislative Assembly.[22]
In March 2024, he was announced as the BJP candidate for theKarnal constituency in the2024 Indian general election.[23] Khattar subsequently won from the seat.[2]
In June 2024, Khattar was appointed theMinister of Power andMinister of Housing and Urban Affairs.[24]
Khattar announced that Haryana will have an all-woman police station in each district and around 500 woman constables will be recruited. He also started a 24×7 portal calledHarsamay through which anybody can file a complaint online.[25]
He has also suggested that Yoga to be a part of police constables' training to help keep the police personnel mentally and physically fit. According to media reports, Khattar has said that Police recruitments would be made on Transparent Recruitment Policy (TRP) and 3,060 new houses would be constructed for police personnel at a cost of Rs 550 crore in next three years.[26]
Manohar Lal Khattar has introduced e-services through Common Service Centres including biometric attendance system in all the government offices through which attendance of all officers will be available online and monitored.[27]
In July 2022, Manohar Lal Khattar championed the cause ofIndian reunification, declaringopposition to the partition of India.[28] Khattar likened the present divisions in the Indian subcontinent to those of East and West Germany, which were dissolved withGerman reunification in the 1990s.[28]
Manohar Lal Khattar's Government has been in news for taking steps to implementBeti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana scheme that was flagged off by India's Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. The child gender ratio has been improved in Haryana since he assumed power. It is now 889 girls per 1,000 boys. "Efforts are being made to further take it (child gender ratio) to above 900," Khattar has said in a public statement.[29]
Manohar Lal Khattar has publicly declared that his government will build a memorial to mark the sacrifice of Garud Commando Gursewak Singh, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Pathankot.[30]
Manohar Lal Khattar is criticised for his remarks on rape and women issues.[31] During his election campaign for 2014 polls in India, he said: "If they (women) want freedom, why don't they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited."[32][33] Likewise, on 16 November 2018, he has stated, "The biggest concern is that in 80-90% of rapes and eve-teasing cases, the accused and the victim know each other. In many cases, they know each other for a long time, and on one day, when there is an argument,... an FIR is lodged, saying that this person has raped me." This evoked strong condemnation from the opposition.[34] On 3 April 2023, he again stirred a controversy by making a remark that a "[high court] judge needed to be "fixed". The opposition believes this is interference with the judiciary and have demanded an apology and that a contempt of court notice be issued against him.[35]
| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Haryana 26 October 2014 – 12 October 2024 | Succeeded by |
