Gurugram: A bus ride with the janta, light-hearted banter with passengers, and a stopover at a dhaba. That’s how Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar spent his Sunday evening as he undertook a short journey from Karnal to Chandigarh in the state-run Haryana Roadways bus.
Khattar, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is angling for a third-straight term in the state next year, undertook the journey from his constituency, Karnal. The party is also aiming to secure all 10 parliamentary seats in the state in next year’s general election.
Khattar was in Karnal for a Jam Samvad — or people’s interaction — programme. He later put up several posts of the journey, including a 1.42-minute video in which he’s seen purchasing a ticket and engaging in light-hearted conversations with fellow passengers.
In the accompanying caption, he called himself a “servant of the people” and said the journey helped him understand the “highs and lows” associated with undertaking a bus ride.
“Today, my journey from Karnal to Chandigarh was memorable and wonderful. Being a servant of the people, I could get a feel of their mode of travel and the highs and lows associated with it. It was a good experience with Haryana Roadways, the pride of Haryana. A passenger from Punjab gave a few suggestions and also praised the Haryana government. A sister’s gesture of making me speak to her life partner made me happy and emotional. This journey will help me in making people’s journeys better. Sabney Ram Ram (Best wishes to all),” Khattar wrote on the microblogging site X, formerly Twitter.
Khattar’s media secretary Praveen Attrey said it wasn’t “the first time” that he undertook “such a journey”.
“On 8 July 2015, he took a roadways bus to travel to Karnal from Chandigarh. He has travelled by train on several occasions. In June this year, the CM saab took the Shatabdi Express to travel to Sonepat, where he was to join Union minister Nitin Gadkari for the inauguration of 11 flyovers on the eight-lane national highway from Delhi to Panipat,” Attrey said.
Khattar’s bus journey came on a day when Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal was in the state to administer an oath to new party workers. The two chief ministers later got into a tussle for credit for similar pilgrimage schemes launched by the two governments.
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The journey
In the 1.42-minute video he posted, Khattar is seen climbing onto a bus and then asking its surprised passengers where it’s headed.
आज करनाल से चण्डीगढ़ आते हुए एक यादगार और अद्भुत सफर का अनुभव हुआ…
जनता का सेवक होने के नाते उनके जीवन के सफर को भी और यात्रा के सुख-दुःख को भी जानने की कोशिश की।
म्हारे प्रदेश की शान… हरियाणा रोडवेज के साथ यह शानदार अनुभव रहा।
सफर में पंजाब के एक यात्री का सुझाव और हमारी… pic.twitter.com/AUioVJ7gHo
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) November 5, 2023
“Jammu Katra ja rahi hai, Sir (Heading to Katra, Jammu, Sir),” comes the chorus. He then asks, “Acchha! Kahan se chali thi? (From where did it start?). From Delhi, comes the response.
When the bus is on the move, a newlywed woman asks the CM, who remains standing, to speak with her husband over the phone.
“Sir, mere husband aap se baat karna chhahte hai, woh bhi Karnal se hai (Sir, my husband wants to speak to you. He is also from Karnal),” the woman is heard saying.
When the CM asks what his name is, the woman, who identifies herself as Surinder Kaur, suddenly blushes and says she can’t spell out his name.
While speaking to the woman’s husband, Khattar comments on her sudden coyness saying: “Acchha, aapki patni itni pati bhakt hai, aapka naam bhi nahi leti hai (Your wife is so devoted to her husband that she doesn’t even spell out your name)”.
All the while, other passengers are seen clicking photos of Khattar.
Later, Khattar posted photos of himself inside the bus and at a roadside dhaba.
हरियाणा रोडवेज हमारी शान है…
इसका सफर और भी शानदार !आज की शाम रोडवेज के सफर का आनंद लिया और चाय के ढाबे पर चर्चा भी हुई। pic.twitter.com/hScde4JCuR
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) November 5, 2023
Credit war with Kejriwal
Meanwhile, the CM also got into a credit war with his Delhi counterpart Kejriwal over the Haryana government’s free pilgrimage scheme, ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana’. Launched in May this year, the Haryana government offers free rail travel for pilgrims over 60.
The scheme is similar to the one that Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, first launched in 2019. Called ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’, the scheme not only offers free pilgrimages for senior citizens but also provides paramedical staff during the journey.
In a post on X, Khattar asked people to avail themselves of the Haryana scheme. In his response Sunday, Kejriwal, whose AAP is also contesting the assembly polls in Haryana next year, said that it was his government that first announced such a scheme in Delhi.
He also said that he was “happy” that others were learning from his government’s schemes, adding: “If you feel any problem in its implementation, ask us. We will be happy to help the people of Haryana”.
Responding to this, Khattar said his government can “implement its own schemes”.
“People in Delhi are gasping for breath because of air pollution and you are roaming around in other states for election campaigns,” Khattar’s response said. “This reflects your irresponsible behaviour. If you feel any problem in running Delhi’s administration, ask us. We will be happy to help you”.
म्हारा धाकड़ हरियाणा हर योजना के कार्यान्वयन में पूरी तरह सक्षम है।
दिल्ली में प्रदूषण की जिम्मेदारी लेते हुए नागरिकों की रक्षा कीजिए। इस संकट के समय में दिल्ली छोड़कर दूसरे राज्यों में घूमकर चुनाव प्रचार करना आपकी गैर जिम्मेदारी का परिचायक है।
अगर दिल्ली का शासन चलाने में… https://t.co/sw02FveTYq
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) November 6, 2023
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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