Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will expand his council of ministers on Tuesday, which will include one MLA each from his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ally Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). In the second expansion to be held in two years, BJP MLA Dr Kamal Gupta from Hisar and JJP MLA from Tohana Devendra Singh Babli will be included in the cabinet expansion.
Khattar told reporters here before the expansion of the council of ministers, “Two MLAs will be inducted. One is Kamal Gupta and the other is Devendra Babli.” Putting to rest the speculations that have been going on for several months about the expansion in the Council of Ministers, Khattar said, “Yes, the suspense is over now.” After two MLAs take oath, the strength in the Council of Ministers including the Chief Minister will be 14, which is also the upper limit. Earlier, 10 MLAs were inducted into the Council of Ministers in November 2019, days after Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala took oath on October 27, 2019.
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After the cabinet expansion on Tuesday evening, the BJP will have 10 ministers, including the chief minister, and the JJP will have three ministers, including deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, while Ranjit Singh Chautala is the only independent MLA to be included as a minister. In the October 2019 elections, the BJP got 40 out of 90 assembly seats, but did not get a majority. Later, it forged a post-poll alliance with the JJP, which has 10 MLAs. (agency)