Gurugram: Almost two months after the BJP replaced him with Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister of Haryana in a seemingly sudden move, Manohar Lal Khattar has now claimed that speculation in political circles about what led to the change of guard is incorrect, and that it was he who suggested this change almost a year ago.
Ostensibly perturbed over rumours surrounding his exit, Khattar Tuesday sought to put the record straight in his speech during the Vijay Sankalp Rally in Ferozepur Jhirka in Nuh district. He was in Nuh to seek votes for Rao Inderjit Singh, the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Gurgaon seat.
“I still remember I came here on 9 March for the 11th time in nine years for a function to mark the birth anniversary of Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati, which falls on 16 March, but we celebrated it on 9 March because the month of Ramzan was about to begin. Kaafe taqreer hui, aur maine bola tha ki Inshah Allah main jaldi hi fir aaunga (we had a lot of discussion and I promised you that God willing, I would come again soon),” he said.
“But the developments that happened after that led to a lot of rumour mongering that wrongly linked my ‘removal’ as CM to my frequent visits to Nuh district. Three continuous days, 11, 12, and 13 March remained very hectic and witnessed a lot of new developments,” he added.
विजय संकल्प रैली (फिरोजपुर झिरका) में अपने परिवारजनों को संबोधित करूंगा। https://t.co/xn6ViwWetE
— Manohar Lal (मोदी का परिवार) (@mlkhattar) May 7, 2024
On 11 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Gurugram to inaugurate the city section of Dwarka Expressway where he spoke about his long association with Khattar. The next day, Khattar resigned and Saini was named as his replacement. On 13 March, Khattar resigned as an MLA after Saini secured a vote of confidence in the state assembly.
“Kahani to kuch aur hai, bana di gayi kuch aur (the real story is different from what has been told). The real story is that last year when I completed eight-and-a-half years in office, I suggested to Modi that if one could hand over the baton to another person there can not be a better reason for happiness. This was more than a year ago when I expressed my desire to hand over the baton to someone else,” Khattar said Wednesday.
He went on to add that Modi must have given his suggestion some thought. “Two months back, in January, he asked me whether I was firm on what I said last year. I replied in the affirmative. He told me that he also had a plan for Haryana. I didn’t ask what his plan was.”
The former chief minister, who is contesting the ongoing general election from Karnal, also referred to a programme in Gurugram on 11 March, which was attended by Rao Inderjit Singh and Nayab Singh Saini. This, he said, is where Modi recalled how Khattar and he rode a motorcycle from Gurgaon to Rohtak when Modi was in-charge of Haryana.
“Nayab Singh Saini was also sitting on the dais as state president of the BJP when Modi ji was addressing people on 11 March and he told people after narrating the anecdote that while he and I were together then and together now, your future is also with you. When he hinted that people’s future was also there, he was hinting towards Saini,” said Khattar, moving again to Rao Inderjit Singh and asking him if he took Modi’s hint then.
Khattar added that he understood the message immediately because he knew that the change in guard could come into play any moment.
“He (Modi) stepped down from the stage and said ‘get this done at the earliest’. I didn’t waste even a minute and called a meeting of the council of ministers on 11 March and resigned on 12 March. I called the MLAs, and they elected Nayab Singh Saini chief minister.
“The next day, the government won the vote of confidence in the assembly and I resigned as the MLA from Karnal. I don’t think anyone could’ve transferred power voluntarily to someone else in such a manner,” he said.
Khattar then went on to allege that the Congress twisted the sequence of events and promoted the notion that he was removed as chief minister owing to his repeated visits to Mewat.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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