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Journalism of Courage
Less than a week after senior Haryana BJP leader and Transport Minister Anil Vij stirred political waters by taking to social media and “seeking public opinion” on how to deal with his detractors within the party, he removed the word ‘minister’ from his bio on X on Wednesday night.
However, a source close to Vij told The Indian Express that this is not a significant political move. “The minister may continue to attract more viewers on social media platform X even without the title ‘minister’ in his bio, as seen earlier. Anil Vij himself is a brand,” the source said.
Haryana BJP spokesperson Sanjay Sharma also downplayed the change. “There is nothing serious about removing the word ‘minister’ from a politician’s bio. It is a personal choice how a leader manages their social media presence,” he said.
The development has come less than a week after Vij posted a comment on X, alleging that some people in his Ambala Cantonment constituency were running a parallel BJP with the blessings of party senior leaders. “Write in the Comment Box on what we should do. The party is suffering a lot of damage,” he had stated.
This was not the first time Vij had vented his ire openly. After the Haryana Assembly elections in October 2024, he had publicly alleged a conspiracy within the BJP to defeat him. His accusations—made through social media posts, press interactions, and repeated public statements—intensified the tensions between factions of the state BJP unit, especially between Vij and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Vij, a seven-term MLA and a prominent face of the BJP in Haryana, then posted photographs and videos on social media, claiming that individuals close to Saini had actively supported his rival, Chitra Sarwara, who contested as an Independent from Ambala Cantonment constituency. Despite defeating Sarwara by over 7,000 votes, Vij alleged that party workers aligned with a man named Ashish Tayal, who claims proximity to Saini, and were seen campaigning for Sarwara. “The plot to defeat me was orchestrated from within,” Vij had said after the October 2024 polls.
The BJP formed the government for the third consecutive time by winning 48 out of 90 Assembly seats. “I raised this issue within a week of the election results, but over 100 days have passed and no action has been taken”, Vij had said earlier this year.
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