How Nayab Saini balanced caste equations in new Haryana Cabinet

Thirteen BJP MLAs took oath as Haryana ministers on Thursday as the BJP carefully balanced out community and caste dynamics after pulling off a surprise victory in the Assembly election for an unprecedented third consecutive time. The new Haryana Cabinet has two MLAs each from the Dalit, Brahmin, and Jat communities, four OBCs, one Rajput, one Punjabi and a Bania.
There can be a maximum of 14 ministers in the Haryana government, including the Chief Minister. Mahipal Dhanda, who was among two BJP leaders who retained his seat from the previous Cabinet, was inducted. BJP veteran Anil Vij, who was not included in the first Nayab Saini Cabinet, was the only Punjabi to find a place this time.
Six-time MLA Krishna Lal Panwar and two-time MLA Krishna Bedi are the Dalit faces in the Nayab Saini 2.0 government. From the Brahmin community, two-time Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sharma and Palwal MLA Gaurav Gautam were inducted into the Cabinet.
From the influential Jat community, which accounts for 20–25% of the Haryana population, the daughter of Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Chaudhary, Shruti Chaudhary, and two-time MLA from Panipat (Rural) Mahipal Dhanda found a place in the Cabinet.
Even though the Jats rallied behind the Congress, the BJP managed to cause a split and managed to bag 28% of the votes.
A large chunk of the MLAs sworn in were from the OBC community, from which Chief Minister Saini also belongs. Rao Narbir Singh, Aarti Rao (daughter of Union Minister Rao Indrajit), Ranbir Singh Gangwa, and Rajesh Nagar were the OBC leaders sworn in on Thursday as ministers.
Saini’s strategy to consolidate the OBC and non-Jats votes in the state to counter the Congress’s Jat-Dalit and Muslim axis is believed to be behind the BJP’s stunning performance in Haryana.
The Rajput and Bania communities will be represented by Shayam Singh Rana and Vipul Goyal respectively in the Haryana Cabinet.