Minister ML Khattar, Asked To Pick Between Veep And BJP Chief Post, Said This

What would Housing and Urban Affairs Minister ML Khattar rather become - Vice President or boss of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party? The answer - neither, a diplomatic response.

Mr Khattar, a BJP veteran, told NDTV Thursday evening, "I don't pick. Whatever responsibilities are given... I work accordingly", and offered an anecdote from his past to underline the point.

The former Haryana Chief Minister Khattar remembered his first assignment - as a pracharak, or full-time worker, for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor.

"The first job I got was in Faridabad... this was in 1980. In 1981 the district pracharak came to meet me. After two days of meetings he asked me to drop him off at the bus stand," he began, segueing into reminiscing about how cheap bus travel was four decades ago.

"As he was leaving he kept a foot on the steps of the bus... stopped and turned around and told me, 'I forgot... you have been transferred to Rohtak'. I said 'okay'."

"What was there for me to think? I didn't ask 'why Rohtak'. Whenever I am given a responsibility I take it up... no job is big or small. If I am not this (Veep) or that (BJP boss), there will be enough work. I will find something else," he said at a real estate summit organised by NDTV.

Both posts - Veep and BJP President - will have new incumbents before the year is out, although the former will be filled much before that deadline after Jagdeep Dhankhar's shock resignation.

Jagdeep Dhankhar Drops Exit Bomb

Mr Dhankhar stepped down late Tuesday citing ill health.

However, sources soon told NDTV the Rajya Sabha Chair had displeased the BJP by accepting the opposition's motion to impeach Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma - then a judge with the Delhi High Court - over burnt piles of Rs 500 notes found at his home.

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This was despite Mr Dhankhar having been told the government had its own motion locked and ready to fire, in the Lok Sabha, and did not take kindly to having its political rivals take credit.

Pressed on the Veep's sudden resignation, Mr Khattar said, "... without trusting the government he took a proposal from the opposition. It was the government's strategy..." as he questioned the former Vice President's lack of discipline in this particular matter.

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Sources have told NDTV the centre is now in a huddle over how best to proceed with Justice Varma's impeachment, i.e., how best to regain the advantage from the opposition.

The BJP's Own Presidential Problem

Meanwhile, on the BJP boss front, the incumbent, Jagat Prakash Nadda is set to be replaced after he was inducted into the government - as the Union Health Minister - in June last year.

Choosing the right candidate is a tough task.

The BJP needs to get the correct caste combination, and juggle the north-south divide over the language row and delimitation, particularly with elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala - two state it has zero traction in - next year. That could count against Mr Khattar.

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But the party is also under pressure to shore up its support base in Uttar Pradesh after the setback in last year's Lok Sabha election led to a loss of outright majority in Parliament.

Mr Khattar, although not from UP, might be an acceptable option from this perspective.

And what could also help his candidature is the party boss will need to be someone who understands the RSS' organisational values.

The Punjab-born Haryana leader was stood down from his role as Haryana Chief Minister rather abruptly ahead of the Assembly election last year, as the party shuffled its cards to avoid anti-incumbency. He was then rewarded with a role in the federal government.