New Delhi: O P Dhankar, who was a cabinet minister in the BJP government in Haryana, was on Sunday appointed the president of the party’s state unit.
By appointing Dhankar, the BJP has continued with a Jat face, the most dominant caste in the state.
The BJP, in a statement, said party chief J P Nadda appointed Dhankar the Haryana unit head.
The appointment is also seen as an attempt to balance the caste equations in the state, where politics revolves around Jats and non-Jats.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is also a non-Jat.
Dhankar will replace incumbent Subhash Barala, who was also a Jat.
Both Dhankar and Barala had lost the Harayana Assembly elections held in October last year. Dhankar was a cabinet minister in the BJP government in Haryana.
The appointment has been delayed by more than eight months as it was expected that a new president would be appointed after the announcement of the state Assembly results.
Dhankar has also been the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kisan Morcha twice.
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