Gurugram: Former Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, on Sunday, staked his claim to the chief minister’s post, prompting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership to clarify that the party is contesting the polls under the leadership of Nayab Saini, and he remains its CM candidate.
Ahead of the Haryana assembly elections next month, BJP’s Ambala Cantonment MLA Vij said at a press conference on Sunday, “I am the most senior leader. I will present my claim to become the chief minister based on my seniority. Whether the party makes me or not is its decision.”
He is not the first BJP leader to have staked this claim. Earlier, Gurugram MP and Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh did the same, but the party, at the time, did not show any urgency to issue a response.
Vij said he has never asked for any position but is now for the first time. “People from all over Haryana come to me. Wherever I go, people ask why, being a senior leader, I am not the chief minister…. If the party makes me CM, I will change the fate and face of Haryana,” he added.
Speaking to ThePrint over a phone call, Vij said he is the senior-most MLA in Haryana from the BJP and among the senior-most MLAs across party lines. He said he won the Ambala Cantonment seat six times, and it will be seven wins after the upcoming election.
“I am under pressure from my supporters from across the state who come to Ambala to meet me and ask why I was not made the CM despite my seniority. Considering this, I have decided to formally stake my claim to the CM post after the assembly polls,” Vij said. “Given a chance, I will completely transform the state. Whether the party gives me a chance or not — it is the prerogative of the party leadership — but I will stake my claim.”
On 29 June this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Panchkula that the BJP would fight the Haryana assembly elections with Nayab Saini as the face of the party. However, many senior leaders in Haryana have shown displeasure over Saini’s nomination.
Immediately after Vij’s statement on Sunday, the BJP went into damage control.
Answering questions by the media, BJP’s Haryana assembly election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan reaffirmed that the BJP CM face and CM candidate is Nayab Saini.
BJP state president Mohan Lal Badoli also clarified to the media that the party is contesting the assembly elections under Nayab Saini, who remains the BJP’s CM candidate.
Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP made Saini the Haryana Chief Minister, replacing Manohar Lal Khattar. At the time, Vij seemed upset with Saini’s selection, expressing his displeasure at several party meetings. Later, Saini did not even include Vij in his cabinet.
Anil Vij is the most senior leader of the Haryana BJP. He has contested assembly elections from Ambala Cantonment eight times, winning six times. This time, he is contesting from Ambala Cantonment again.
In 2014, when the “Modi wave” was strong and the BJP won an absolute majority in Haryana by securing 47 out of 90 seats, Anil Vij, Ram Bilas Sharma, and Om Prakash Dhankhar were in the race to become Haryana CM. At the time, there were discussions that the BJP might choose a Punjabi face over a Jat for the CM post, strengthening Vij’s candidacy.
However, in what seemed a sudden move, the party put forward the name of first-time MLA Manohar Lal Khattar, also belonging to the Punjabi community and considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Khattar then served as Haryana’s CM for nine-and-a-half years, with Anil Vij as a minister who was considered powerful in his cabinet.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Anil Vij, expressing displeasure over Saini becoming CM, said he would campaign only in his assembly constituency. “I will ensure the BJP wins in Ambala Cantonment. What has happened to me is clear to me now. That’s why I will remain here,” he had said then.
Following the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP formed the state election committee for the assembly elections — Anil Vij’s name was initially not on the list. Vij went to Delhi overnight and met Union Minister and state election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan. Later, the BJP took out a revised list, including Vij’s name.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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