Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, expected to be a minister in the upcoming Narendra Modi-led government, revealed on Sunday that the Prime Minister-elect had summoned attendees of a customary high tea meeting at his official residence to ‘stay back’ in the national capital for the next 24 hours. The oath-taking ceremony for Modi’s third successive term in office is scheduled for 7:15 pm, signaling an indication that some MPs-elect of the BJP-led ruling NDA, including Khattar, are likely to take oath at the event 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,” said the BJP leader.
Khattar, along with two other MPs-elect from Haryana, Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar, participated in the tea meeting with the PM-designate. Describing the event, Khattar mentioned Modi’s tradition of inviting individuals to his residence for such tea meetings, which typically involve discussions related to Cabinet induction. Khattar stated that he had fulfilled necessary formalities during the meeting.
Having resigned as chief minister in March, Khattar was succeeded by Nayab Singh Saini. Contesting his first Lok Sabha elections from the Karnal parliamentary seat, Khattar secured victory over Divyanshu Budhiraja of the Congress party by a substantial margin of 232,577 votes, according to the Election Commission. However, the BJP faced setbacks in Haryana, losing five out of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress, whereas winning the remaining five. This contrasts with the party’s previous achievement of securing all 10 seats in the 2019 polls. Haryana is poised to elect its next government later this year.