Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is set to get a new swanky ride—Mercedes Benz GLS class worth a whopping Rs 1.07 crore.
The State Government has placed an order to buy the new SUV for the Chief Minister.
At present, the Chief Minister travels in a Toyota Land Cruiser costing more than Rs 1.50 crore.
Sources in the State Government confirmed that after getting an approval in this regard, an order has been placed to buy Mercedes Benz GLS Class (GLS 400-D) alongwith standard accessories at a cost of around Rs 1.07 crore. Bullet-proofing of the car will add additional cost to the total amount of the SUV to be purchased for the Chief Minister.
In the year 2016, the Chief Minister had upgraded from Mercedes-Benz E-Class to Toyota Land Cruiser, which created quite a buzz. Khattar’s predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda used to travel in Mercedes Benz.
The purchase of a luxury car for Khattar, who is a former RSS Pracharak had come as a surprise for many as he often advocates adopting austerity measures on the public platforms.
Earlier in April this year, the BJP-JJP led State Government had also placed an order to buy 15 Toyota Fortuner each costing around Rs 36.30 lakh. The SUVs have been purchased for the Cabinet Ministers.
Apart from the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, there are currently 10 Council of Ministers in the Haryana Government.
The move to purchase luxury cars for the Cabinet Minister amid a COVID-19 pandemic and a financial crisis had attracted severe criticism from the opposition parties in Haryana.
Notably in 2015 also, the BJP Government during its first tenure in Haryana had purchased luxury vehicles, which included Toyota Fortuner and Honda CRVs for its Cabinet Ministers.