RSS stalwart ML Khattar takes oath as Haryana's first BJP CM

October 26, 2014

Chandigarh, Oct 26: Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana's first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took oath at a mega ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Panchkula on Sunday.

Khattar oathAlongside the 60-year-old former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, nine ministers, including six of cabinet rank and three ministers of state (independent charge), were also sworn in.

Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khattar at a public ceremony at the Mela Ground in Sector 5 of Panchkula town, adjoining Chandigarh.

The ceremony was high-profile. Apart from Modi, some of his cabinet colleagues, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and RSS leaders were present on the occasion. Senior BJP eaders such as Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were also in attendance.

The BJP had scripted history in the recently held Haryana assembly elections, winning 47 of the 90 seats in the state that helped the party form the government on its own. The party's vote share, too, galloped from 9% to 33%.

Khattar is the 10th chief minister of the state, which was created November 1, 1966.

The six cabinet ministers sworn-in on the occasion were Ram Bilas Sharma, Abhimanyu, OP Dhankar, Anil Vij, Narvir Singh and Kavita Jain.

Other ministers of state (MoS) to be administered the oath of office and secrecy were Bikram Singh Thekedar, Krishan Kumar and Karan Dev Kamboj. They all will hold independent charges.

Who is Khattar?

Khattar - a Punjabi - is a sworn bachelor. He has the backup of the RSS and is seen as close to Modi, who endorsed his name for the CM's post in Haryana.

Khattar's selection silenced his critics, who said he lacks administrative experience as well as a popular base.

Non-Jat Khattar, often dubbed an "outsider" by rivals, also outdid the Jat-Punjabi rivalry that runs deep in the northern state.

"The majority view is in favour of having a non-Jat as chief minister," a BJP leader had said earlier.

Khattar, who has been an RSS pracharak for the past 40 years and an active BJP member for more than 20 years, won the Karnal seat with a big margin of more than 63,000 votes in his debut election.

He belongs to Rohtak's Nindana village.

Khattar has worked as an organising secretary in Haryana BJP when Modi was the in-charge of party affairs in the state.

The very fact that the BJP fielded him from Karnal, considered a rather safe seat for the party, gave ample indication of its plans for the Punjabi leader.

All in the stars?

Planetary positions seem to have decided the day and the time of Khattar's oath-taking.

It was evident from the official invite to the swearing-in ceremony, where the time of oath-taking was printed as a precise 11.23am.

"The date and the time seem to have been chosen carefully," said Chandigarh-based astrologer Prem Kumar Sharma, adding: "Tritiya tithi and Anuradha nakshatra fall on October 26, which are quite favourable (star positions)."

Another astrologer said that on the time, Mangal (Mars) would be in lagna (ascendant).

"Mars is a planet of aggression, which shows that the new chief minister would be an assertive individual. During this period, Sun will be in the 11th house, which is a house of gains but associated with enemy planets Venus and Saturn, indicating loss of sheen in governance," said the fortuneteller.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Lucknow, Mar 3: Two days after wife of Kafeel Khan, who is booked under the National Security Act, alleged that her husband faced a threat to life in Mathura jail, where he is lodged for anti-CAA protests, the District Magistrate claimed that Khan was 'fully secure' in the jail.

"Kafeel Khan, who has been booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for alleged inflammatory statements during an anti-CAA protest in Aligarh, is absolutely fine and fully secure in Mathura jail. Allegations of 'inhuman' treatment being meted out to him are baseless," Mathura District Magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra said on Monday.

Also Read: Kafeel Khan’s wife fears threat to his life
Senior Superintendent of Mathura district prison, Shailendra Maitrey, said that Khan's condition is being monitored every half an hour and the report is written in the gate book. He said, his ECG is normal and blood pressure was also in control.

He said that Khan was demanding checkup from a cardiologist.

"Since no specialist is available in the government sector here, his request could not be complied with. However, the jail authorities have sent his request to chief medical officer and have asked him to make a specialist available," the jail official said.

He said Khan is in barrack, which is fully ventilated, and he shares it with 50-60 'good behaviour' prisoners.

It may be recalled that in a letter to the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), and Director General (Jail), Shabista Khan, wife of the jailed doctor, had alleged that her husband was being treated inhumanely in the jail.

She feared that an attempt could be made on her husband's life inside the jail. She had demanded adequate security for him and had urged that her husband should be kept away from active criminals lodged in the jail.

Khan was booked by Aligarh police on December 13 for delivering a provocative speech in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) during an anti-CAA protest in the campus, a day earlier, and was arrested from Mumbai airport on January 29 by Uttar Pradesh special task force.

The Aligarh police had slapped the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Khan on February 13 night, hours before he was expected to walk free from the Mathura jail, after he was granted bail by Aligarh's chief judicial magistrate on February 10.

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News Network
April 26,2020

New Delhi, Apr 26: Medical services at Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital in Jahangirpuri area have been closed and the hospital is being sanitised after 44 staff members including doctors were tested positive for COVID-19, Delhi Health Department said on Saturday.

"Total 44 staff members including doctors at Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital in Jahangirpuri area of Delhi have tested positive for COVID-19. Test reports of other staff members are awaited. Hospital's medical services have been closed and the hospital is being sanitized," Delhi Health Department said.

Earlier today, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain informed that there are 2,625 coronavirus cases in Delhi, out of which 111 were reported yesterday.

The total number of active cases in the national capital stands at 1,518 while 869 people have recovered so far, the minister further informed. There have been 54 deaths in the national capital, as per the Union Health Ministry.

A total of 26,496 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, including 19,868 active cases, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday.

824 people have lost their lives due to the infection in the country.

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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: Despite repeated assurances by the Centre and state government of no shortage of food and essential services in Delhi, many daily wage earners have started fleeing the national capital on foot to return to their native villages in nearby Uttar Pradesh and other states because of the hardships being faced by them.
Most daily wage earners who are fleeing have complained that they are doing so because they will die of hunger due to lack of resources at their disposal.
"I am going to Azamgarh, my native place which is more than 800 kilometers from here. We have started walking towards our village. On the roads, if we get some vehicles then it will be all right otherwise we will continue on foot. I used to work in the construction sector but all work has stopped, we therefore have no other means to buy our rations. Atleast, food is guaranteed in our homes," Ghanshyam, a daily wage earner, told ANI here.
Rani, another daily wage earner, who was fleeing Delhi along with her family said, "Who would want to leave on foot, but what other options do we have. Our children will die of hunger, even if they are saved from the disease. That is why we are leaving."
While the government has been assuring that it will provide food and other essentials to the low-income groups, the people complained that they are yet to receive any help.
The departing of people has started despite repeated warnings by governments to prevent the influx of persons living in other states to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
Prince, who used to reside in Mongolpuri area of Delhi, said, "If we continue to stay the landlord will pester us for rent. The prices of all commodities are rising with each passing day, this way we will have nothing left to survive. We did not get any help from the government. I am, therefore, returning to Kasganj, which is close to 300 kilometres from Delhi. We will at least get food served twice a day in the village, nobody is offering us even water here."
Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced Rs 5,000 for each construction worker under Construction Workers Welfare Board Fund.
Addressing a video conference here, he said, "The Delhi government will give Rs 5,000 to each construction worker as their livelihood has been affected due the outbreak of coronavirus."
He also said that the number of night shelters in the city has been increased and more food is being distributed to homeless people.
He also said that due to curfew, several people were not able to get food, and urged the public to send such people to the nearest shelters of the Delhi government, where food was being arranged.

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