ML Khattar Congratulates OP Dhankar On Appointment As Haryana BJP Chief

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday congratulated senior leader Om Prakash Dhankar on being appointed the state president of the BJP and said the party unit will be further strengthened under his leadership.

He said Mr Dhankar has a long experience of working with the party.

His appointment will give a new direction to the party and strengthen the state unit, Mr Khattar said at a press conference on Sunday evening.

The 58-year-old Mr Dhankar, a former MLA from Badli, was the minister for agriculture and farmers' welfare in the previous Khattar Cabinet.

He replaces Subhash Barala, who has completed his tenure.

By appointing Mr Dhankar, the BJP has continued with a Jat face to lead the party in Haryana. Jat is the most dominant caste in the state. The appointment is also being seen as an attempt to balance the caste equation in the state.

"Dhankar ji has taken over as new state unit chief. He is an experienced leader who served party in various capacities. He was our minister in the previous term," said Mr Khattar.

Replying to a question, he said there was no lobbying and appointments to such positions are made with due consultation.

"It is not that such things are in the hands of one person, had it been so, this (appointment) would have been done two months ago. There are consultations and discussions on party forum, party observers take feedback, names are discussed and then final decision is left on party's central leadership," he said.

Mr Khattar said he had met BJP national president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, indicating that the issue of state unit chief had been discussed.

"I got a telephone call from JP Nadda ji in the morning stating ''we are making this decision'' and soon the announcement was made. I telephoned Dhankar and congratulated him," he said.

The appointment had been delayed by more than eight months.

Earlier, in a tweet, Mr Khattar said he has a firm belief that party workers will get the benefit of Mr Dhankar's political experience.

Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda also congratulated Mr Dhankar.

"My heartiest congratulations to Om Prakash Dhankar on being appointed as Haryana BJP President," the senior Congress leader and leader of opposition tweeted.

Mr Dhankar had held several key positions in the party's Haryana unit including state general secretary. He served as the national secretary of the party and also remained joint in-charge of Himachal Pradesh affairs.

He had been associated with ABVP for a long time.