‘He asked us to…’: ML Khattar reveals what PM-elect Modi said in tea meeting ahead of swearing-in
The ex-Haryana chief minister is likely to get a ministerial berth in the third Narendra Modi-led government.
Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is likely to be a minister in the third Narendra Modi-led government, on Sunday said that the Prime Minister-elect has asked all those who attended the customary high tea meeting at the latter's official residence, to 'stay back' in the national capital ‘for the next 24 hours.’
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At 7:15 pm, Modi will take oath for what will be his third successive term in office, and third overall. Ahead of the ceremony, some MPs-elect of the BJP-led ruling NDA, including Khattar, were called for a tea meeting with the PM-designate, an indication that they are set to take oath at Sunday's ceremony, to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“It has become a tradition for Narendra Modi to call people to his residence for tea meetings. He only calls those he wants to induct in his Cabinet. Some formalities were to be done, which I have completed. He has asked us to stay in Delhi for the next 24 hours,” the senior BJP leader said.
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According to the ex-Haryana CM, two other MPs-elect from the state, Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar, were also present during the interaction.
Khattar, who resigned as chief minister in March and was succeeded in office by Nayab Singh Saini, who also heads the BJP's state unit, contested the recently-held Lok Sabha elections – his first – from the Karnal parliamentary seat. There, he defeated Divyanshu Budhiraja of the Congress party by a margin of 232,577 votes, as per the Election Commission.
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However, the saffron party lost five of the state's 10 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress, and won the other five. In the previous 2019 polls, it had achieved a 100% strike rate in Haryana, which will elect its next government later this year.
(With ANI inputs)
