Khattar to hold additional charge of Information and PR

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will now also hold the additional portfolio of Information, Public Relations and Languages department, which was earlier held by state's Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain, an official spokesperson said today.

Kavita Jain, according to sources, was divested of the Information and Public Relations portfolio to avoid "conflict of interest" after her husband Rajiv Jain was tipped to be appointed as the new media adviser to state's chief minister.

The chief minister will now hold this new portfolio along with some other key departments -- the ones he already holds -- including home and power.

A notification to this effect was issued by the state's Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, who on the advice of the chief minister, has allocated the above mentioned portfolio to Khattar with immediate effect.

Having said that, senior cabinet minister Kavita Jain would continue to retain other key departments, including Urban and Local Bodies and Women and Child Development.

Meanwhile, according to sources, Kavita's husband Rajiv Jain, who is state BJP's media-in charge, is set to be appointed as the new media adviser to the Haryana chief minister.

Rajiv Jain has earlier worked as media adviser to late chief minister Bansi Lal also.

Importantly, all these changes took place after Amit Arya, who until recently was the media adviser to Haryana chief minister, was shifted to New Delhi for coordinating with the media in the national capital.