He is a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and served as the 10th Chief Minister of Haryana from 26 October 2014 till his resignation on 12 March 2024.

Khattar was born on 5 May 1954 in Nindana village of Meham tehsil in the Rohtak district of East Punjab, India into a Punjabi Hindu family.

[4][5] His father, Harbans Lal Khattar, had migrated to the village from the Jhang district of West Punjab following the Partition of India in 1947.

[6] Khattar completed his matriculation (final year of high school) from Pandit Neki Ram Sharma Government College, Rohtak.

[15] His opponent, the Indian National Congress candidate and Deepender Singh Hooda, accused Khattar of being an "outsider" not native to Karnal.

[17][18] On 27 October 2019, Khattar was sworn in as the chief minister for the second time, after making an alliance with Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party post 2019 Haryana Legislative Assembly election.

[19][20] Khattar submitted his resignation to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on 12 March 2024 after the development came amid speculation of cracks emerging in the state's ruling BJP and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition over seat sharing ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,[21] and on 13 March he tendered his resignation from the Haryana Legislative Assembly.

[27] In July 2022, Manohar Lal Khattar championed the cause of Indian reunification, declaring opposition to the partition of India.

[28] Khattar likened the present divisions in the Indian subcontinent to those of East and West Germany, which were dissolved with German reunification in the 1990s.

[29] Manohar Lal Khattar has publicly declared that his government will build a memorial to mark the sacrifice of Garud Commando Gursewak Singh, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Pathankot.