New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday ruled out the possibility of sacking Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar despite his failure to contain the violence in the state following the conviction and arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Friday.
Pressure was being mounted on the saffron central leadership in the wake of the violence unleashed by the cult leader’s supporters which left 36 dead and several injured.
In a meeting chaired by the BJP chief Amit Shah with BJP general secretary Haryana state unit Dr Anil Jain and senior leader Kailash Vijaivargiya, it has been decided that Mr Khattar will not be removed or summoned to Delhi for any clarifications.
The decision was taken as removing Mr Khattar would have provided a “major political handle” to the Opposition, particularly Congress in the state.
“The Prime Minister has made it clear that the party must not buckle under pressure to replace the Chief Minister,” a senior party official claimed.
Mr Khattar, a first-time MLA whose selection for the post of Chief Minister had raised many eyebrows in the party had earlier been accused of “messing up” things during the arrest of Baba Rampal and the Jat agitation.
After these two incidents when the Khattar administration came under fire, demands were raised from within the BJP to replace him. However, the top brass of the party rejected the demands.
It was also learnt that a section in the party warned that replacing Mr Khattar could open up a can of worms since almost all the top saffron leadership including Chief Ministers were close to the cult leader. In fact Gurmeet Ram Rahim was also invited Delhi to attend a function organised by the Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s Dera Sacha Sauda with a strength of nearly one crore followers, mainly Dalit Sikhs, spread across Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan was being wooed by the BJP before the 2014 general elections, sources said.
Before the 2014 elections, the cult had openly announced their support for the BJP.
Top BJP leaders ranging from Ms Vasundhara Raje, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Manoj Tiwari and Mr Khattar and a number of BJP Haryana ministers have been known to be close to the godman.
