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Mercurial BJP leader Anil Vij finds himself sidelined. Once more
Vij's rise was evident from how people would attend his ‘janata darbar’; he would listen to complaints, keeping officials on their toes as to when he may call
"Mera naam Anil Vij hai, darne ki zarurat nahi hai kisi ko mere rehte," (My name is Anil Vij. No one needs to fear anything while I'm around) is what the 70-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart often tells people, who come to meet him with complaints every day from far-flung areas of the state for redressal of grievances.
Amid the shake-up in Haryana's government on Tuesday where the BJP broke ranks with its ally Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), this temperament of Vij's was put to the test. The senior BJP leader walked out in a huff from the BJP legislature party meeting where Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini was elevated as the new chief minister of the state.
While walking out of the meeting, Vij evaded questions on what transpired in the meeting, saying, "Those who have come from Delhi will tell." Even though outgoing chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar said that his name was on the list of ministers in the new Haryana cabinet, Vij chose to skip the swearing-in, preferring some ‘golgappas’ and ‘chaat’ back home.
A few hours later, the BJP leader reached his home in Ambala. A photo of him playing with his brother’s granddaughter went viral, while the swearing-in was going on, 55 km away.
Khattar attempted to explain Vij's sudden departure, at a press conference in Chandigarh, saying, "Anil Vij is our senior leader...It is in his nature that he gets upset quickly but becomes okay soon. There have been such instances before. He is upset but we are talking to him...Our new chief minister will also talk to him.”
However, just the next day, in what seemed to be a dramatic U-turn, the six-time MLA took part in the floor test held during a special session of the assembly on Wednesday. “I’m a devotee of the BJP. Circumstances keep changing, but I’ve worked for the party in every situation. I will work today as well and with more power,” Vij told reporters before taking part in the floor test.
Anil Vij's rise from an ABVP worker to six-time MLA
Popular for his tough-talking, Vij's rise from an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) worker to, at one point, the tallest leader in the Haryana BJP is evident from how people would gather at a PWD rest house to attend his ‘janata darbar’ on Saturdays; he would listen to every complaint personally, sometimes till 2 am, keeping officials on their toes as to when he may ring up.
The six-time MLA from Ambala cantonment was known to suspend any official irrespective of rank.
Born on March 15, 1953, in Ambala cantonment to a railway employee, Vij finished his schooling at the Banarasi Dass High School in 1968. Thereafter, he joined ABVP, the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1969.
In 1972, he graduated in science from Sanatan Dharam College. After completing his education, he was appointed to the State Bank of India (SBI) and did various jobs at a local branch.
The year 1990 was a turning point in his life when his political mentor and former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He resigned from his banking job after 16 years and won in the by-election from the seat represented by Swaraj multiple times.
However, in the assembly elections eight months later in 1991, Vij lost. This was when he was appointed as state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
Later due to differences with party leaders, he was expelled from the BJP in 1995 and floated his own outfit, Vikas Parishad.
A year later, he contested as an independent in the Ambala MLA elections to turn out victorious. He won again in 2000 but lost the next election by 619 votes in 2005.
He rejoined the BJP in 2009 and won the state elections again from the Ambala cantonment constituency on the lotus symbol.
Vij progressed quickly among the BJP's ranks, becoming one of the front-runners for the chief minister's post after the party's thumping victory during the 2014 Haryana assembly polls. But Khattar, a one-time MLA, was chosen instead.
Anil Vij's rising clout in Haryana political circles
Called "Gabbar" or "Baba" in Haryana political circles, his close aides have seen him riding on a Chetak scooter early morning in the bylanes of Ambala Cantonment to meet party workers and spending hours with prominent journalists.
A bachelor, Vij is the eldest of three brothers and even after winning multiple times, he chose to not stay in government accommodation allocated to ministers in the high-end sectors of Chandigarh and instead lives at his home in Shastri Colony of Ambala cantonment.
In 2014, when the BJP government under Khattar was formed for the first time in the state, he was given the health and sports portfolio in the first cabinet (2014-19). Despite this, his daily routine remained. He would sip his morning tea with close friends at Sadar Bazaar Chowk, doing ‘pranayam’ and humming old songs, while his party workers would keep him updated on the headlines of the day.
Under Khattar's second innings, he was allotted home, health, medical education, AYUSH and other departments. Over the years, he developed an image of a national leader giving critical opinion about events across the country on social media and TV channels.
Tussles between Vij and his cabinet colleagues
Differences between Vij and Khattar during the 10 years of their tenure as cabinet colleagues are known to all. The former Haryana home minister was at odds with Khattar on a number of occasions. In December last year, Vij had stopped signing files from the health department over the alleged interference by the chief minister’s office (CMO). After two months, he relented but only after the removal of a senior bureaucrat.
In July last year, the then-Haryana home minister had said that he had not received any "intelligence input" before communal violence erupted in the state's Nuh region, which led to the deaths of five people and left over 50 persons injured. He would ask the reporters to speak to the CM for any information on the riots.
Vij had stated that he was first informed about the clashes by a private individual.
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.
Vij had even sought the removal of the then CID chief IPS officer Anil Rao on grounds of 'inefficiency', but the chief minister overruled him. Both had a run-in over another IPS officer, Manoj Yadava, when Khattar was in favour of his extension as DGP, while Vij blamed him for 'mismanagement' during the farmer's agitation in 2020-21.
The BJP leader even had a disagreement with the new Haryana CM. In 2015, when Nayab Saini was minister of state (MoS) for mines and Vij took exception to the former holding a ‘janata darbar’ in the latter’s constituency.
Upset Vij even asked Saini (then Naraingarh MLA) to “concentrate on his own constituency” and spoke about taking up the matter with Khattar.
In an ironic twist, Saini is now the new chief minister of Haryana.
ABOUT THE AUTHORBhavey NagpalBhavey Nagpal is a staff correspondent based at Karnal. He reports on crime, politics, health, railways, highways, and civic affairs for northern Haryana districts.
