No point operating with Khattar when there is certainly no religion, suggests previous Haryana home minister Anil Vij
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Ambala: Still miffed above very last month’s changes in the Haryana govt, former state property minister Anil Vij has mentioned that there was no position in working with ex-chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar “when there was no faith” amongst them. “I have now appear to my aukaat (place),” the 6-time MLA advised ThePrint in an exclusive job interview.Just one of the most senior ministers in Khattar’s federal government, Vij has been upset with Khattar considering that 12 March, when point out BJP main Nayab Singh Saini replaced the latter as CM, and has been skipping condition celebration meetings. Vij is not section of the Saini cabinet.
Talking to ThePrint, the former minister claimed he was “kept in the dark” about the adjust at the helm. He also designed it crystal clear that he would not marketing campaign for Khattar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Karnal.


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“When he (Khattar) does not have any believe in in me and just cannot share this sort of an vital challenge (the adjust of CM), there is no level in working with him… I will get the job done and confine myself to my Ambala Cantt assembly constituency,” he stated.
In the interview, Vij spoke about his connection with Khattar, his admiration for Key Minister Narendra Modi, and what he thinks of the Opposition’s allegations from the central BJP governing administration.
Also Read: Haryana ‘waits for poll rallies as it waits for weddings’ but Khattar’s bucking the pattern. Here’s why
‘CM’s prerogative’
Vij shares a rocky romance with Khattar and has created his displeasure with the latter known in the earlier far too. For occasion, in November 2023, the BJP veteran, who also held the wellbeing portfolio, stopped clearing the ministry’s data files boasting interference from the chief minister’s workplace.
This was 3 many years immediately after a tug-of-war above the state’s criminal offense investigation section led the chief minister to strip him of the cost and allocate it to himself. Referring to those scenarios now, Vij explained that he was open to suggestions and suggestions. “However, if another person attempts to interfere in my perform, I hardly ever tolerate that,” he reported. Soon soon after Saini’s swearing-in, Khattar claimed Vij “gets upset easily” and that he was questioned to be aspect of the new cabinet. But Vij dismissed this saying no one particular spoke to him. “The two CMs (Khattar and Saini) will have to have talked about it and taken a get in touch with. But I never have any issue. Right after all, only 15 p.c of whole MLAs are to be built ministers. Rest 85 remain MLAs. I’m a single of 85 p.c MLAs now,” he claimed, introducing that becoming component of the cupboard was “always the prerogative of a CM”.
The advancement created him realise he was “just a modest worker”, he mentioned. “I’m just an MLA now. I will emphasis on my Ambala Cantt (assembly) seat and attempt to get the optimum votes for the Ambala parliamentary seat applicant Banto Kataria,” Vij stated.Nonetheless, he dismissed the speculation that the transform at the helm just before the elections would negatively effects the BJP’s odds. The Lok Sabha elections, he explained, had been about Primary Minister Narendra Modi. “He is our applicant for all 543 seats in the nation and individuals will give him a substantial mandate. Men and women will vote for him for what he has carried out in the previous 10 — the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ayushman Bharat, the Ujjawala plan (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana), the Balakot strikes, Chandrayaan-3, Post 370, Ram Mandir…Even if I have to sacrifice my daily life for him, I won’t assume twice,” he stated.
As for the assembly polls, he claimed that the party’s central leadership was effectively knowledgeable of the circumstance on the ground and would do no matter what was essential to “strengthen the party”.‘Opposition misleading people’
Vij dismissed the Opposition’s allegations that the Modi government was using the point out equipment to deny them a degree playing industry. By generating these allegations, the Opposition is deceptive men and women, he explained. “Those who have been arrested (in these types of scenarios) experienced the option to seek out relief from the courts. But the courts have uncovered the allegations trusted and denied them bail,” he reported.When pointed out that the courts have been not refusing this sort of bails on the deserves of these circumstances but simply because of the Modi government’s incremental adjustments to the Avoidance of Income Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 since 2014, Vij stated the Opposition, far too, was portion of Parliament when these amendments were manufactured.
“The legislation of the land has to be obeyed by all,” he reported. However, when questioned about a report in The Indian Specific stating that 23 out of 25 politicians with corruption scenarios were being presented a clean chit immediately after they joined the BJP, Vij mentioned that he was not knowledgeable of “individual cases”. (Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Examine: Anti-incumbency, Rahul’s caste census call, OBC maths — why BJP replaced Khattar with Saini in Haryana
