MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY Ab ki baar, BJP Sarkar A life dedicated to public service with today’s ever changing technology – using it to his advantage for e ective years, Manohar Lal’s vision for Haryana is communication with the outside world. founded on his active involvement in the Choosing to remain a bachelor, state’s politics and people. Manohar Lal opted to sacrifice his Recognised for his political acumen, personal life and dedicated himself to Manohar Lal has played the role of a public service. His image is pristine, master strategist and successfully led many untarnished by scandals and charges. He electoral campaigns, the latest being the always put the nation before his personal 2014 Parliamentary elections in Haryana as agenda and gratification. Chairman of Election Committee. He has Close to his roots and a believer in the ith almost forty years of active been sel essly working behind the scenes power of culture and tradition, politics and dedicated public service in key party positions that have earned for Manohar Lal is an instrument to bring W to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak him the reputation of a tough task master about change and improve lives of citizens Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party, with a no-nonsense approach and proven today. A leader, he feels, has to have vision Manohar Lal Khattar has worked tirelessly organisational skills. He has stayed at the and should be able to motivate people for both Haryana and the country. forefront of innumerable social projects and Intimately and inseparably involved humanitarian e orts. A man who believes with his ‘Karmabhoomi’ Haryana for in keeping up with the times, he is at ease A master strategist, known for his political acumen, he was appointed chairman of Haryana’s Election Committee for the recent Lok Sabha elections entrusted on him by his party. and downs in Haryana’s politics. In 1996, Manohar Lal’s agenda promises not only BJP allied with Bansi Lal’s Haryana Vikas A bachelor who a better Haryana, but a unique Haryana that Party to form the government in the state. leads in various fields - acknowledged not However when he noticed that the alliance left home 34 years only nationally but internationally and set as was proving costly for the party and the ago and dedicated an example for others states to follow. government had become unpopular, he favoured withdrawal of support from the his life to serve government. BJP then decided to provide Political Journey outside support to Om Prakash Chautala. nation and society Born in Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar joined Later, this coalition with INLD won all 10 seats RSS as a full-time Pracharak in 1980. After in the Haryana 1999 parliamentary elections, 14 years of service to the RSS, Manohar Lal a wholly better outcome than 2 out of 10 to bring about change at the same time. was moved to the Bharatiya Janata Party and seats they had secured in 1998. Holding the sobriquet of a ‘Swayam Sevak’ placed at the helm as Sangathan Mahamantri His tenure as Haryana’s Sangathan close to his heart, Manohar Lal has always in Haryana, his home state, in 1994. Mahamantri established him as a strategist willingly accepted any responsibility In this position, he witnessed many ups par excellence, an able and rm handed His sensitivity for marginalised sections emanates from his own humble background out of 12 seats - thus playing a decisive role in bringing BJP to power in the state. Apart from his crucial role in the party’s success in states like Punjab, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, Manohar Lal was given prominent roles in various elections in di erent states where he always delivered results. In 2004, Manohar Lal found himself in charge of 12 states, including Delhi and Rajasthan. He then worked under the leadership of the nationally renowned RSS ideologue, Bal Apte (Balasaheb Apte), who administrator, and a man who had a keen charge of Jammu and Kashmir as the State’s was then heading the Chunaav Sahayak Yojna. sense of the state’s politics. It was in 1996, Election Incharge. Immediately thereafter he was entrusted when Manohar Lal was actively working in In the aftermath of the Bhuj earthquake, with the responsibility as Regional Sangathan Haryana, that he rst began working with Manohar Lal was called upon to manage the Mahamantri for ve states - Jammu & Narendra Modi, who was then in charge of elections in the Kutch district by Narendra Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Haryana. In 2002, Manohar Lal was given the Modi. There was strong resentment amongst Himachal Pradesh. His tenure saw several people in the area due to inadequate successes for the party in these states, relief post-earthquake, but Manohar Lal’s underlining Manohar Lal’s exceptional extensive campaign work bore fruit, and BJP decision making skills and inherent political A tough task secured 3 out of 6 seats - which prompted acumen. During this time, BJP won 11 seats master with proven Narendra Modi to remark that these seats for the rst time in Jammu and Kashmir. were a “bonus” for the election results. Once again, for the Lok Sabha elections organisational The rst elections held in the then newly of 2014, Manohar Lal was appointed the created state of Chhattisgarh also saw Manohar Chairman of Election Campaign Committee skills and no – Lal’s invaluable contribution to the party’s (Haryana) contributing to the party’s nonsense approach performance. He worked in Bastar which was thumping success and playing a role in a traditionally Congress bastion and won 10 changing the course of the country’s history. any social causes that required attention, including rescue and rehabilitation efforts, With almost 40 years of dedicated like one during the flood in Kakrola village, near Delhi’s Dwarka area, in 1978. association with RSS and BJP, the senior During his time as Rohtak’s Pracharak, leader has tirelessly worked for both the district witnessed a flood that forced people out of their homes and caused Haryana and the nation extensive damage. The efforts to ensure security and food for people were volunteering his services both via his spearheaded by Manohar Lal. Seva Pratham party as well as on an individual level. During the earthquake in Jammu and Manohar Lal’s sensitivity towards various Manohar Lal has headed the Kashmir’s Uri & Poonch districts, the marginalized sections emanates from Antyodaya Yojana for BJP nationally, whole place was devastated, and once his own humble background. He is the belief of the party ideology and the again, Manohar Lal was continuously immensely aware of the many social effort to elevate those in the lowest involved in the rescue operations that issues afflicting the country today, and rung of society. included evacuating victims, arranging has been actively involved in social work, He has always been at the forefront of their food, housing and rehabilitation. His dream is to create a unified, strong, progressive and prosperous Haryana Starting school at the age of six, and call two siblings to Delhi in order to live Personal Journey Manohar Lal displayed his brilliance early. with him. He also pursued and completed From humble agricultural roots, Manohar He was at the forefront of all debates, his graduation from Delhi University while Lal’s family history traces itself back to discussions and school activities, and also simultaneously managing his business the West Punjab district, now a part of excelled in academics. activities. By now, Manohar Lal’s life was Pakistan. Forced out of their homes during Keen to pursue a medical degree, turning towards yet another path. the partition, his family made their way to Manohar Lal looked towards applying for The Emergency was imposed in 1975, and India in 1947, arriving almost entirely empty colleges, despite his father’s opposition lasted for the next two years. At the age of 21, handed to Nindana, a village situated in who wanted him to take to farming like for the rst time, Manohar Lal found himself Haryana’s Rohtak district. To survive, Manohar the rest of the family. Keeping him in the paying attention to the topics like nationality, Lal’s father and grandfather took up odd jobs dark, he borrowed money from his mother unity and politics. His mind began to as labourers, nally saving enough to start a and enrolled himself in Rohtak’s Neki Ram contemplate ideas beyond himself or his small shop. It was in Nindana that Manohar Sharma Government College. Manohar Lal immediate surroundings. It was then that Lal was born in 1954. Once his family’s had become the rst member of his family to he rst came into contact with the Rashtriya shop began to do well, Manohar Lal’s father study beyond Class X. To prepare for entrance Swayamsevak Sangh. decided to move to the neighbouring village tests to medical colleges, Manohar Lal made When he personally saw RSS volunteers of Banyani, where he bought agricultural his way to Delhi, initiating a chain of events protest during the Emergency, sit on land and took to farming. that was to transform his life. Satyagrah, court arrest and shout slogans Staying with relatives in Delhi who ran a for Bharat Mata, all for freedom, he began very successful clothing business, he began to question his decision to study for seven to “Politics is an nine years before being able to practice as a instrument to bring doctor. His mind turned to business. Manohar Lal borrowed money from his family to open about change in the a shop near Sadar Bazaar. Hard work and determination showed results, and the shop lives of citizens” proved to be a successful venture.