OP Dhankar appointed Haryana BJP; former Cabinet minister had lost election in 2019 from Badli

New Delhi: OP Dhankar, who was a cabinet minister in the BJP government in Haryana, was on Sunday appointed the president of the party's state unit.

By appointing Dhankar, the BJP has continued with a Jat face, the most dominant caste in the state.

The BJP, in a statement, said party chief JP Nadda appointed Dhankar the Haryana unit head.

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The appointment is also seen as an attempt to balance the caste equations in the state, where politics revolves around Jats and non-Jats.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is also a non-Jat.

Dhankar will replace incumbent Subhash Barala, who was also a Jat.

Both Dhankar and Barala had lost the Harayana Assembly elections held in October last year. Dhankar was a cabinet minister in the BJP government in Haryana.

The appointment has been delayed by more than eight months as it was expected that a new president would be appointed after the announcement of the state Assembly results.

Dhankar has also been the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Kisan Morcha twice.