The Haryana cabinet led by Manohar Lal Khattar which met today decided to withdraw the benefits enjoyed by former chief ministers of the state. (File Photo)
The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP Government in Haryana has decided to strip former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of his Cabinet Minister status.
The Haryana cabinet which met today decided to withdraw the benefits enjoyed by former chief ministers of the state which entitle them to the same facilities that a cabinet minister in the state enjoys. The decision will hit former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda the most because he is the only one enjoying the benefits of the decision taken during his time. His predecessor, and the only other surviving former chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala is serving a prison term.
Kishan Lal Bedi, a minister in Khattar govt said, "There has been no practice to accord the status of cabinet minister to a former chief minister, Hooda made this provision at the end of his term when his ouster was imminent."
"This not an act of political vendetta," he added.
In June 2013, the then Congress Government had decided to extend privileges available to a cabinet minister to former chief ministers at the state capital Chandigarh. Mr Hooda has been allotted a government bungalow, given an official car and a staff of six people.
His security will now be downgraded to "Y" category and he will also lose one of the two escort vehicles. His benefits will now be reduced to those enjoyed by a legislator.