Ms Kiran Choudhry, leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, has described the Cabinet expansion by the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal Khattar, as a nail in the coffin of the much-touted BJP concept of “minimum government, maximum governance”, repeated parrot-like by no less than the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi. With the induction of three ministers and four chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS), it is now ‘maximum government, minimum governance.’In a statement issued here today, the former Excise and Taxation Minister said, “It shows that the BJP Government which has earned the notoriety for going back on its promises and reversing the decisions taken by the previous government, has now also started rubbishing the very concepts it sold to the people in the run-up to the elections to grab power”.
The expansion also exposes the double standards of the BJP. When in opposition, the party had opposed the appointment of chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS) but now Mr Khattar has inducted four CPS in his team. “In fact, the expansion aims at outnumbering CM’s critics in the Cabinet with those who can do his bidding. That there have been rumblings of opposition was borne out by the appointment of Parineeti Chopra as brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Programme. The cabinet brigade opposing it was led by Mr Anil Vij, Health Minister”, she added.The Haryana Government is trying everyday one trick or the other to fool people and expansion is just another tactics to divert the attention of the people from the lack of development work at the ground level, Ms Choudhry said.