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Have faith in CM’s words: Vij on his tussle with Haryana CM Khattar
On being asked about the logjam due to which the files at the health department are stuck, Vij said he was told by CM Manohar Lal Khattar that he will decide on this soon
Nearly two months after cabinet minister Anil Vij stopped signing files from the health department over the alleged interference by the chief minister’s office (CMO), the Ambala MLA aired his views for the first time on Wednesday.
On being asked about the logjam due to which the files at the health department are stuck, Vij said he was told by CM Manohar Lal Khattar that he will decide on this soon.
“….I have full faith in his word,” he told the media at his Ambala residence while hearing public complaints.
Earlier, on most occasions, Vij had publicly denied speaking on the issue as “no comments”, but would grouse his dissatisfaction with some of those visiting him for some departmental works in Ambala or Chandigarh, sources said.
The home minister’s reaction comes two weeks after the CM had acknowledged the issue for the first time during a press conference in Chandigarh last month.
CM had also said that the issue was in his knowledge which would be resolved shortly and he had also spoken to Vij.
However, he did not share any further details, calling it ‘an internal matter’.
The prime reason behind the impasse is a “review meeting” of the health department chaired by a senior official from the CMO in October in the absence of the health minister, a department official, not wishing to be named, had said.
Since the meeting, Vij is said to have not cleared a single file of the department.
Interestingly, Vij’s admission comes days before the winter session of the state assembly starting December 15, where the opposition is likely to take up the issue in the house.
This is not the first time that Vij, a six-time MLA is at odds with the CM Khattar.
Recently in July, the minister had said that he had not received any intelligence input before the violence hit Nuh region and was first informed about the clashes by a private individual.
Most of the time, he would refuse to divulge facts and probe details with the media, saying that the chief minister had them, hinting at his past ire of the latter holding the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The issue of keeping CID was the first point of contention between both just weeks after the Saffron party formed a government in alliance with JJP in 2019.
In December 2021, Vij also offered to resign after Khattar had expressed his intent to divest him of the home department during a cabinet expansion.
Later during department reallocations earlier this year, Vij also lost two key departments – technical education and science and technology – as both merged into the higher education department under his cabinet colleague Mool Chand Sharma.
He is left with key portfolios of home, health, and AYUSH along with medical education and research.
