On Anil Vij staking claim to Haryana CM post, Dharmendra Pradhan's curt reply
Pradhan asserted that chief minister Nayab Singh Saini is the BJP's CM face in the poll-bound state.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday asserted that Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini is the BJP's CM face in the poll-bound state, and exuded confidence that under the latter's leadership, the party will win the assembly elections for the third consecutive time in Haryana.
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The statement from Pradhan, the BJP's in-charge for Haryana polls, came after party's senior member and ex-minister, Anil Vij, expressed his desire to be the next CM.
“Being a party worker, he (Vij) may have said so. But Nayab Singh Saini is the BJP's CM face,” Pradhan told reporters in Karnal when asked about Vij's comment.
In March, Saini succeeded Manohar Lal Khattar, the saffron party's first chief minister in Haryana, after the BJP called off its alliance with Dushyant Chautala's JJP. Khattar was then fielded from the Karnal parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha elections; he won and was inducted as a minister in prime minister Narendra Modi's government.
Meanwhile, Vij, the MLA from Ambala Cantt, was dropped from the Saini-led state Cabinet. Speaking to the media on Sunday, he cited his seniority to stake claim to the chief minister's position.
“I never sought anything from the party till today. People ask me that despite being the senior-most, why did I not become the CM? On the demand of the people and on the basis of seniority, I will stake claim to become chief minister,” the veteran leader stated.
“It is up to the party to make me the CM. But if they do, I will change the ‘takdeer and tasveer’ (destiny and face) of Haryana,” he added.
The assembly polls will be held on October 5 in Haryana. The counting of votes is on October 8.
(With PTI inputs)