Manohar Lal Khattar

Early Life

Forced out of ancestral home during the Partition, his family came to India in 1947, almost empty-handed. Manohar Lal's father and grandfather took to farming as their profession in Baniyani village of Rohtak district and the family started residing there.

Education

Shri Manohar Lal started displaying brilliance during his early days at school. He not only excelled in academics but also remained in the forefront of debates, discussions and other extra-curricular activities.

Keen on pursuing a medical degree, Shri Manohar Lal started scouting for colleges. He enrolled himself in Neki Ram Sharma Government College, Rohtak, and became the first member of his family to study beyond Class X. With a view to preparing for medical entrance test, he made his way to Delhi, initiating a chain of events that transformed his life.

Despite pressure from his family to stick to farming as a profession, Shri Manohar Lal took to business and simultaneously graduated from Delhi University. In 1977, he decided to join the RSS at the young age of 24 years.

RSS & BJP Journey

Having joined the RSS as a full-time Pracharak, Shri Manohar Lal rendered 40 years of active public service to the RSS and the BJP. Having dedicated several years of his life to the RSS, he was moved to BJP in 1994, and made Sangathan Mahamantri in Haryana.

He has dedicated his life to public service and is known for his political acumen. He played the role of a master strategist and successfully led many electoral campaigns, the last being the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Haryana as chairman of the Election Committee. He has selflessly worked behind the scenes in key party positions that earned him the reputation of a tough task master. He stayed in the forefront of innumerable social projects and humanitarian efforts.

His tenure as Haryana's Sangathan Mahamantri established his reputation as a strategist par excellence, an able and clear-headed administrator, and a man who has a keen sense of state politics. It was in 1996 when Shri Manohar Lal was actively working in Haryana that he first came into contact with the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, who was then in charge of Haryana. In 2002, He was given charge of Jammu and Kashmir as the state's election in charge.

Having played a crucial role in the party's success in states like Punjab, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, Shri Manohar Lal was given prominent roles in various elections in different states where he delivered results. In 2004, he was saddled with organizational charge of as many as 12 states, including Delhi and Rajasthan.

Immediately thereafter, he was entrusted with the responsibility of being Regional Sangathan Mahamantri for five states & Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh. His tenure brought the party several successes in these states, underlining Shri Manohar Lal's exceptional decision-making skills and inherent political acumen. It was during this time that the BJP won 11 seats for the first time in Jammu & Kashmir.

A follower of the dictum Seva Pratham, Shri Manohar Lal headed the Antyodaya Yojana for BJP at the national level. It symbolised the party's ideology to elevate those in the lowest rung of society. He has always been in the forefront of such social causes as required attention. These included the rescue and rehabilitation efforts like the one made during the floods in Kakrola village, near Delhi's Dwarka area, in 1978, and the earthquakes that rocked Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat.

During his days as Pracharak at Rohtak, the district faced ravaging floods that forced people out of their homes and caused extensive damage. The mass-scale effort made to ensure security and food for the people was spearheaded by him. When an earthquake struck Uri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the whole place was devastated. Once again, Shri Manohar Lal was continuously involved in the rescue operations which included evacuating victims, arranging for their food, housing and rehabilitation.

Political Journey

For the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Shri Manohar Lal was appointed Chairman of the Election Campaign Committee, Haryana, which not only resulted in thumping success of the party but also played a key role in changing the course of the country's history. He contested the election for the first time from the Karnal Assembly constituency and won the seat by 63,773 votes.