Former Haryana home minister Anil Vij walks out of BJP legislature meeting, skips swearing-in ceremony

When the swearing-in ceremony was going on at Raj Bhavan, a video of Vij playing with his brother’s grand-daughter surfaced on social media. Several of his supporters gathered at his home in Ambala. He briefly spoke with the media there and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Those people who came to India before 2014 had no rights here, so PM Modi has done a good job by giving them citizenship so that they can also live with dignity and raise their children,” he said.

Later in the evening, Khattar confirmed that Vij was among those leaders to be sworn in on Tuesday. “He got annoyed over something and left,” the former chief minister said.

“Anil Vij is a very committed and senior worker of our party. Since 1990, Anil Vij and I have had an association. I had worked with him since the first time he contested polls and was elected as an MLA. There had been several instances when he had got annoyed, but he got back to normal soon. We spoke with him today, but he refused to come. We cannot compel anybody against his wish. But that is his nature and we understand that. He gets annoyed quickly but gets back to normal soon.

“We will talk to him again tomorrow and even the day after. Our new chief minister, Nayab Saini, will also speak to him. Anil Vij’s name was also among the council of ministers to be sworn in today. But he could not make it to Raj Bhavan for certain reasons. We will speak to him and as and when he is available, he will also be sworn in. As far as more new faces to be inducted into the cabinet is concerned, the decision will be taken by the new chief minister in consultation with the party’s senior leadership and soon the cabinet will be expanded,” the former chief minister said after the swearing-in ceremony.

BJP sources told The Indian Express that Vij was not happy with Saini being selected as chief minister, and voted against it in the Legislature Party meeting. However, despite repeated attempts to reach out to him, Vij did not respond to the calls made by The Indian Express. His close aides confirmed that Vij was not happy with Saini’s elevation as chief minister.

It is not the first time when Vij has displayed his anguish in public.

Janta Darbars at his Ambala home

Known for his “on-the-spot” redressal of grievances brought forth by a complainant, in which he does not even spare any official irrespective of his or her rank, Vij has a penchant for courting controversy. Called “Dabbang”, “Gabbar” etc in Haryana’s political circles, Vij is known for not staying in government accommodation allocated to ministers. Instead, the bachelor lives at his home in Shastri Colony in his Ambala Cantonment constituency. There he holds Janta Darbars (public grievance hearing sessions) at least twice a week. He is among the permanent invitees to the BJP’s national executive.

Born on March 15, 1953, in Ambala Cantonment, Vij completed his schooling from Banarasi Dass High School in 1968 and graduated in science from Sanatan Dharam College in 1972. He worked in a nationalised bank for a few years and, over four decades ago, shifted to politics wearing the mantle of honesty. Over the years, though, he has come to be known for his eccentricities and critical opinion about events across the country.

Anil Vij and Manohar Lal Khattar

The outspoken Vij has not shied away from locking horns in public even with Khattar. Be it in seeking the transfer of an intelligence chief, or seeking the CID portfolio for himself, or other issues, Vij has been quite open in expressing his opinion, and is known for mincing no words when it comes to attacking political opponents or critics.

A six-time MLA, Vij was holding the home and health portfolios among a few other departments till Monday. A few months ago, he stopped taking stock of the health department citing interference by the chief minister’s office. He was eventually placated after several days.

Before that too, Vij locked horns with Khattar over interference in the intelligence wing (CID) that Vij said should have been with the home minister. The matter had even reached the party high command and both Khattar and Vij were summoned to New Delhi. Eventually, the intelligence wing was handed over to then-chief minister Khattar.

Vij had even disagreed with Khattar over the then intelligence wing’s chief IPS officer Anil Rao and sought his replacement, but the chief minister overruled him. Eventually, Rao completed his tenure and was inducted into the chief minister’s office as an advisor (public safety grievances and good governance).

But there was only one incident when Vij found himself in an unpleasant situation. In October 2022, Union Home Minister Amit Shah snubbed Vij publicly—rather forced him to cut down his speech—during an event organised by the home ministry at Surajkund in Haryana.

However, it is yet to be seen if the BJP will be able to pacify an agitated Vij this time.