Haryana CM Saini allocates portfolios, keeps key home dept with himself

Chandigarh: Over a week after Nayab Singh Saini took oath as the chief minister and days after he expanded his cabinet, Haryana Council of Ministers on Friday were allocated portfolios, with Saini keeping the key Home Department.

The portfolios were allocated late Friday night.

According to a government order, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will keep the Home, Revenue and Disaster Management, Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, Information and Public Relations and Languages and Culture, Mines and Geology, Administration of Justice and Foreign Cooperation Departments.

Saini will also keep the Criminal Investigation Department, Law, Personnel and Training, Raj Bhavan Affairs and any other department not alloted to any minister.

The Governor of Haryana, on the advice of the chief minister, has made the allocation of portfolios to the members of Council of Ministers, the order said.

In the previous Manohar Lal Khattar-led cabinet, Home department was held by Anil Vij, who did not find a place in the Saini cabinet while CID department was with Khattar.

Cabinet Minister Kanwar Pal has also got key Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Heritage and Tourism, and Parliamentary Affairs departments.

In the Khattar cabinet, Agriculture was held by J P Dalal.

Another cabinet minister Mool Chand Sharma, who held the Transport portfolio in the previous ministry, has been given industry and commerce, labour, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs departments.

Ranjit Singh retained the Energy and Jails departments, which he held in the Khattar government as well.

Among other cabinet ministers, Jai Prakash Dalal has also been given the key Finance department, which was held by Khattar previously. He will also handle Town and Country Planning and Urban Estates departments.

Kamal Gupta, also a cabinet minister, gets Health, Ayush, Medical Education and Research, previously held by Anil Vij. Gupta will also hold Civil Aviation, which was previously under former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala of JJP.

Banwari Lal, cabinet minister, has been given Public Health Engineering, Public Works (Building and Roads) departments.

Among the Ministers of State, all holding Independent Charge, Seema Trikha gets School education and Higher Education.

Mahipal Dhanda will be the Development and Panchayats, Co-operation Minister, departments previously handled by JJP leaders in the Khattar cabinet.

Notably, JJP and BJP walked separate ways recently.

Aseem Goel has been given Transport, Women and Child Development department.

Abhe Singh Yadav has been allocated Irrigation and Water Resources, Sainik and Ardh Sainik Welfare departments.

Subhash Sudha will handle the Urban Local Bodies and Housing for All while Bishamber Singh will handle Social Justice, Empowerment, SCs and BCs Welfare and Antyodaya, Printing and Stationery departments.

Sanjay Singh has been given Environment, Forests and Wildlife and Sports Departments.

Bishamber Singh has been given Social Justice, Empowerment, SCs and BCS Welfare and Antyodaya, Printing and Stationery Departments.

In a surprise move last week, the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with OBC leader Saini as Haryana’s chief minister in a swift switch in the state, just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Saini was sworn in as Haryana’s new chief minister on March 12. Four BJP MLAs and one Independent also took the oath as members of the new council of ministers along with Saini on the same day.

On March 19, Saini later inducted eight BJP MLAs into his council of ministers, seven of them new faces, in its first expansion a week after he took charge replacing Manohar Lal Khattar.

The Saini government won the trust vote in a special session of the state assembly last Wednesday.