Manohar Lal Khattar in Aap Ki Adalat: Our rivals are very weak, we are bound to win 75-plus seats

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Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said that the ruling BJP may win more than 75 out of total 90 assembly seats in the elections to be held on October 21. 

Replying to questions from Rajat Sharma in the show 'Aap Ki Adalat', Khattar said: "There is logic behind why we have coined the slogan 'Ab Ki Baar, 75 Ke Paar' (beyond 75). In this year's Lok Sabha elections, our party was leading in 79 out of a total of 90 assembly segments. Naturally, 79 is more than 75."

Khattar said, "we are gaining because of our work in the last five years, and we are also gaining, by default, because our rivals are very weak."

On the opposition's charge that unemployment has increased during BJP rule, Khattar replied: "We introduced transparency in hiring for government posts, and the only people who are unemployed are those political agents who used to take bribes for providing employment.

"There was this BBC (bharti, badli, CLU) industry flourishing here. There was rampant corruption in matters of appointments, transfers and change of land use. People who used to take bribes are now unemployed. Otherwise, there is no employment anywhere in the state. (Hamare yahan berozgari kahin nahin hai)"

Khattar alleged that the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) which has given unemployment figures, was headed by a person who was a member of the AICC Manifesto Committee during Lok Sabha polls. "Naturally, they will show unemployment figures for Haryana and Maharashtra which are going to polls, and will not mention other states."

On his earlier controversial remark about those eating beef have no place in India, Khattar said, "Half of my remark is correct, and the other half is not. I did not say beef eaters have no place in India, but I stand by my remark that people should not eat beef because they should respect the feelings of our society. Beef eating is not good. People should keep the feelings of others in mind. We should respect each other's feelings."

On one of his earlier controversial remark about rape, Khattar said: "According to official statistics, 35 per cent of rape and molestation cases registered have been found to be false. Moreover, it is not a law and order issue, it is a social issue and we should promote social awareness."

The Haryana CM said: "According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 92 per cent of rape and molestation cases, the perpetrator and the victim knew each other, they were either relatives, acquaintances or neighbours. We in Haryana were the first to pass a bill to give death sentence to persons convicted of raping children below 12 years of age. The Centre then enacted the same law for the whole country."

On Congress leader Randeep Surjewala's challenge that he would retire from public life if the CM passes the clerk examination in which the question paper was tough, Khattar replied: 'I don't need to become a clerk. I am the chowkidar and sevadar of the people. Surjewala has failed in mathematics. He had planned a turnaround for Congress by contesting the Jind assembly byelection, but he almost forfeited his deposit by a margin of 1,000 votes. The people of Jind defeated the right hand man of Rahul at the hustings."

Asked how he has managed to dislodge the primacy of the families of three Lals (Bhajan Lal, Bansi Lal, Devi Lal), Khattar replied: "My parents named me Manohar Lal, but I consider the 2.5 crore people of Haryana as my lal (sons)".

Khattar revealed that he came into close contact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 1996, when they were both in Panchkula, he as organising secretary for Haryana, and Modi as in-charge for Haryana, Punjab, HP and J&K. "Those five years were a learning experience for me. Narendra Modi was full of new ideas, and he impressed me a lot. I am yet to find a man who has such a big vision (door drishti) as Narendra Modi."

Khattar disclosed: "When I met Modi Ji after becoming chief minister in 2014 to seek his guidance, he told me 'you were at least an MLA before you became CM. I was not even an MLA when I was made CM of Gujarat'."

Asked why he did not opt to marry, the Haryana CM smiling replied: "In our culture, we believe in rebirth. I will fulfill that desire in my next life."

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