No Council of Ministers for 14 days

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 10

With the BJP high command dragging its feet on new Manohar Lal Khattar Cabinet, Haryana on Sunday earned the dubious distinction of being without a Council of Ministers for a record period of 14 days.

The previous longest gap between the swearing-in of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers was 13 days, recorded after the 2009 Assembly poll. The state threw up a hung Assembly then, with the Congress getting 40 seats, exactly the same as the BJP this time.

At that time, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was sworn in on October 25, 2009, while his Council of Ministers was sworn-in on November 7 — after a gap of 13 days.

Khattar and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala were administered oath of office and secrecy on October 27, but even after 14 days, there was no word on the swearing-in of other Cabinet members.

After winning 40 seats in the 2009 Assembly elections, Hooda formed the government with the support of five defector Haryana Janhit Congress legislators, seven Independents and one BSP MLA, claiming the support of 53 lawmakers in the 90-member House.

After the 2019 Assembly poll, the BJP (40) formed the government with the support of 10 JJP MLAs and 7 Independents, taking its tally to 57.

The Maharashtra imbroglio, inability of the BJP high command to balance caste, regional and gender factors in the Cabinet and hard bargaining by the JJP for key portfolios are reported to be the reasons for the inordinate delay in the Cabinet expansion.

In an apparent administrative lapse, the government failed to issue a notification under the Haryana Government (Allocation) Rules, 1974, that all administrative departments were vested with the Chief Minister after his swearing-in on October 27.

Hemant Kumar, an advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in communications to the Governor and Chief Secretary, asserted that issuance of the notification vesting all departments in the Chief Minister was a legal necessity.

“The mere swearing-in does not automatically vest all departments in the Chief Minister and a separate notification is a legal requirement,” he stated.