Khattar expands council of ministers; 10 MLAs inducted

More than two weeks after taking oath as the Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday expanded his council of ministers by inducting 10 members.

The induction of 10 members -- six of cabinet rank and four ministers of state -- takes the strength of council of ministers to 12.

Haryana governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered the oath to newly inducted ministers at a ceremony at the lawns of Raj Bhawan here.

Among the ministers who took oath, eight are from BJP and one from Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and one Independent.

Barring former hockey player-turned-BJP MLA Sandeep Singh, all the ministers took oath in Hindi. Singh donning a saffron turban took oath in Punjabi.

Kamlesh Dhanda, the BJP MLA from Kalayat assembly seat, was the lone woman minister who took oath.

Those who were inducted in the 17-day-old Manohar Lal cabinet as cabinet minister are six-time MLA from Ambala cantonment Anil Vij, former speaker Krishanpal Gujjar of BJP from Jagadhri seat, BJP's Mool Chand Sharma from Ballabgarh seat, Independent and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala's brother Ranjeet Singh from Rania seat, BJP's Jai Parkash Dalal from Loharu seat and former minister of state Dr Banwari Lal from Bawal seat.

Among those who were inducted as ministers of state are BJP's Om Prakash Yadav from Narnaul seat, BJP's Kamlesh Dhanda from Kalayat seat, JJP's Anoop Dhanak from Uklana seat and Sandeep Singh from Pehowa seat.

Khattar and JJP's Dushyant Singh Chautala had taken oath on October 27 as CM and deputy Chief Minister respectively.

Prominent among those were present on the occasion included union minister Narender Singh Tomar and Krishanpal Gujjar, state BJP chief Subash Barala, state BJP incharge Anil Jain, speaker Gian Chand Gupta, JJP state chief Nishan Singh, former ministers Ram Bilash Sharma, Capt Abhimanyu and Manish Grover.