Gurugram: Hours after disgruntled minister Anil Vij met state BJP in-charge Satish Punia Tuesday, Haryana witnessed a large-scale administrative shuffle involving 103 IAS, IPS and Haryana civil services and police services (HCS and HPS) officers.
The government appointed 2007-batch IAS officer Dusmanta Kumar Behera as transport commissioner, relieving Rajini Kaanthan.
HCS officer Virender Kumar Sehrawat was posted as additional labour commissioner in place of Sushil Kumar, and HSC Vinesh Kumar as sub-divisional magistrate cum estate officer for the management of government land in the excised area, Ambala Cantt, in place of Satinder Siwatch. Ramesh Kumar, an HPS officer, has been posted as DSP at Ambala Cantt.
The transport, as well as labour departments, are headed by minister Anil Vij.
Just four days before the transfer of sub-divisional magistrate and deputy superintendent of police in Vij’s constituency Ambala Cantt, the government shifted Ambala deputy commissioner Parth Gupta and posted Ajay Singh Tomar in his place.
Though a senior officer told The Print that the transfers were routine administrative matters, the orders came within hours of Satish Punia meeting Vij Tuesday. Vij has been putting his party, the BJP, in a tight spot for the past five days. He launched his diatribes by announcing an end to his weekly darbar and stopped attending district grievances committee meetings at Sirsa and Kaithal, citing non-implementation of his orders by officers.
He also cited lack of action against officers in Ambala, who he said worked against him during elections.
His targets included both Chief Minister Nayab Saini and the party’s state president Mohan Lal Badoli. He has advised the CM to step out of his udan khatola (helicopter) and interact with ministers and MLAs. On Monday, he directly called the CM’s friends “traitors” and released 17 photos, particularly targeting BJP leader Ashish Tayal by sharing his pictures with Saini. Vij has previously alleged that workers who were seen with Ashish Tayal during the assembly elections were also seen with Chitra Sarwara, the rival candidate of the BJP.
On Tuesday evening, the BJP removed Ashish Tayal from the post of treasurer of Ambala district, in what appears to be a bid to placate Vij.
Vij also demanded Badoli’s resignation due to his alleged involvement in a gang rape case.
During assembly elections, Vij had claimed that there was a conspiracy to assassinate him. He even accused the administration of plotting bloodshed.
The importance of being Anil Vij
This is not the first time Nayab Saini and Anil Vij have clashed. Earlier, when Vij was a minister, he stopped Saini, then a minister of state, from holding a public meeting at the Ambala Cantonment rest house. Even when Saini was the BJP district president of Ambala, relations between the two were strained. Saini, however, has maintained that Vij was a senior leader and not angry with him.
Vij also had a tiff with former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar when he was at the helm in Haryana from 2014 till March 2024.
Political analyst Mahabir Jaglan said despite Vij’s indomitable attitude – and he has often challenged the authority of chief ministers – Vij was indispensable for the BJP leadership in Haryana.
Jaglan told The Print that one reason behind this was he maintained strong relations with voters in his constituency at the grassroots level.
He said: “Vij has been on the winning spree from Ambala Cantt constituency despite the very strong and popular opposition leader Chitra Sarvara fielded against him in the last two assembly elections. BJP lost ground in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. It won only three out of nine assembly seats under Ambala parliamentary seat during the last assembly election. The exit of Anil Vij from BJP or any disciplinary action against him would have an adverse impact on the electoral prospects of the BJP in northeast Haryana which is largely covered by the Ambala (scheduled caste) parliamentary constituency.”
Jaglan said it was important to remember the heaviest electoral loss BJP had suffered both in recent parliamentary and assembly elections is in Scheduled Caste concentrated areas in Northeast and Northwest Haryana.
Also Read: Ready to go on hunger strike, why Haryana minister Anil Vij is upset again
Vij has RSS background
Anil Vij was born in Ambala Cantonment and studied at S.D. College. During his college days, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and later became part of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He was appointed ABVP’s general secretary in 1970. He also worked with RSS-affiliated organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bharat Vikas Parishad.
After completing his BSc. degree in 1974, Vij started working at the State Bank of India. He continued his association with the BJP. In 1990, when Ambala Cantonment MLA Sushma Swaraj was elevated to the Rajya Sabha, Vij was asked to contest the by-election. He resigned from his bank job and won the election. In 1991, he was appointed the state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
In 1996, the BJP denied him a ticket, so he contested the Ambala Cantonment seat as an independent and won. He repeated this feat in 2000. However, he lost the 2005 elections.
He rejoined the BJP before the 2009 assembly elections, and senior leader L.K. Advani welcomed him back into the party. Since then, he has continued winning elections.
Anil Vij won the Ambala Cantonment seat for the seventh time in 2024. He first won the by-election in 1990 and then contested independently in 1996 and 2000, winning both times. He lost the 2005 election but rejoined BJP and won in 2009. After that, he secured consecutive victories in 2014, 2019, and 2024.
Conflicts with Nayab Saini
Vij and Saini have clashed multiple times. When Saini was the BJP district president of Ambala, Vij opposed meetings being held in his constituency without his consent. In 2014, when Saini became an MLA from Naraingarh and a minister of state, he started holding public meetings at the Ambala Cantonment rest house. This angered Vij, who had the meetings stopped.
Despite his long association with the BJP, Vij was not made chief minister when the party secured a majority in 2014. BJP won 47 out of 90 seats, and his name, along with Ram Bilas Sharma and OP Dhankar, was among the top contenders for chief minister. However, the party unexpectedly appointed first-time MLA Manohar Lal Khattar to the top position.
In 2024, when Khattar resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP appointed Nayab Saini as chief minister instead of Vij. During the election campaign, Vij had stated he would stake his claim for the CM’s post based on seniority. Later, he clarified he made this statement because people “were spreading the misconception” that he was not interested in the chief minister’s post. However, he also said he would not lobby for it.
Also Read: Haryana minister Anil Vij takes dig at CM Saini—’flying on udan khatola ever since he became CM’
Clashes with Khattar
Vij has had multiple disputes with Khattar. When the BJP returned to power in 2019, Vij was appointed home minister.
However, despite the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) being under his department, it continued reporting directly to Khattar. This angered Vij, and when the situation escalated, Khattar took CID away from the home ministry and kept it under his control.
As home minister, Vij was sent a list of IPS transfers from the chief minister’s office. He returned the list, questioning why he was not consulted before it was finalised. When the matter worsened, Khattar called him to Chandigarh to resolve the issue.
In 2019, Vij insisted on transferring the director general of health. When his demand was ignored, he stopped signing department files for a month, bringing work to a standstill. Eventually, the DG stepped down, ending the impasse.
On 12 March 2024, when the BJP announced Nayab Saini as the new chief minister to replace Khattar, Vij walked out of the meeting in protest, saying as the state’s home minister, he should have been informed about such a major decision. He refused to join Saini’s cabinet. However, when the BJP formed the government for the third time in 2024, he eventually joined the ministry.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also Read: Anil Vij calls gang rape charge against Haryana BJP chief Badoli ‘very serious’, says party will act
