Savitri Jindal finds place in Haryana government

CHANDIGARH; The Haryana government on Tuesday inducted the country’s richest women and Hisar MLA Savitri Jindal as minister for urban local bodies in the state cabinet. The only Muslim face in Haryana Congress, legislator from Nuh in district Mewat, Aftab Ahmed was appointed as minister for transport with less than a year left for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state.

Savitri Jindal’s appointment is being seen as an act to please the trading community and increase number of female ministers in the state cabinet. Her induction was expected as she had earlier held portfolio of minister of state for revenue, disaster management, rehabilitation and housing in 2006. She had joined politics following death of her husband, industrialist-cum-politician OP Jindal in a helicopter crash. Touted as richest women in the country, Jindal, mother of four sons and five daughters, including Congress MP Naveen Jindal, has net worth of $ 4.9 billion as per US-based business magazine Forbes.