Gurugram: Haryana minister Anil Vij, who was served a show cause notice by his party BJP for targeting Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli, has responded asking who “leaked” the notice and alleging a “conspiracy” to ensure his defeat in last year’s assembly polls, ThePrint has learnt.
The notice was served to Vij, who is the state’s energy, transport and labour minister, by Badoli on 10 February.
Vij has made several other allegations, including that of a plot to endanger his life, and attempts to humiliate him by non-implementation of his orders as a minister, sources privy to the matter told ThePrint.
Badoli had served a show cause notice to Vij for “tarnishing the party’s image” with a series of statements against him and CM Saini. Vij was asked to explain his position within three days of the notice.
Speaking to journalists in Ambala Wednesday, Vij said he had been in Bengaluru for the past three days and learned about the notice through the media. He, however, refused to divulge the details of his response.
Contacted by ThePrint, he confirmed he had submitted a detailed reply but at the same time said that the contents of the reply could not be revealed since it was between him and his party.
Asked whether he has sent his reply to Badoli or BJP national president J.P. Nadda, Vij said that since Badoli served him the show cause notice, the reply is addressed to him.
“However, a copy has been sent to the national president too, because the state president had referred to JP Nadda in the notice,” he added.
Sources close to Vij, however, told The Print that the minister’s reply is quite hard-hitting and he has raised several issues in his reply which the party might find hard to answer.
Also read: Anil Vij gets his way in bureaucratic reshuffle hrs after meeting with Haryana BJP chief
‘Plot to undermine’
According to the sources, Vij has informed the BJP top rung that before the elections, a “false narrative” was spread that he would not get a party ticket. Even after securing the ticket, rumours continued that he would not win, and if he did, he would not be part of the government. He has claimed that some BJP leaders secretly aligned with his rivals to sabotage his election prospects.
Sources further said Vij had also alleged in his reply that after securing his ticket, an attempt was made to eliminate him during the election campaign. He claimed that some party members, along with certain administrative officials, were complicit in reducing his security despite clear intelligence inputs about threats to his life.
Vij, it is learnt, has claimed that to ensure his defeat, development work in his constituency was deliberately stalled, and approved road projects were put on hold by the municipal body to turn voters against him. This, he has allegedly argued, was a deliberate ploy to hinder his election campaign.
The minister has also claimed that he had repeatedly informed CM Saini and Badoli about the situation, it is learnt, and that he was assured an inquiry and action would follow, though nothing happened even after 100 days of his complaints.
Vij further claimed that his authority was being undermined, alleging that during a public hearing, he had ordered the suspension of the Ambala Cantt Sadar police station SHO, but his order was ignored. Despite informing the director general of police (DGP), the suspension request was rejected by the state home ministry, which falls under Saini. He claimed that this public disregard of his authority damaged his political standing.
The BJP leader accused Ambala district party treasurer Ashish Tayal of actively supporting independent candidate Chitra Sarwara, who contested against him. He claimed to have provided video evidence of Tayal campaigning alongside opposition leaders but alleged that no action was taken against him.
Last week, the BJP removed Tayal from the post of treasurer of Ambala district in what appeared to be a bid to placate Vij.
Vij also questioned how the show cause notice issued to him was leaked to the media. In his response, he has apparently demanded that this breach of confidentiality be investigated.
The Haryana minister has been attacking his own government since last month. He first announced that he was discontinuing his Janata Darbars at Ambala and his official district grievances committees’ meetings at Kaithal and Sirsa, alleging that his orders were not being followed by officials.
Later, he urged Badoli, booked in a case of gang rape in Himachal Pradesh, to resign as the party president till his name was cleared. The HP Police has since filed a closure report in the case.
A few days later, Vij took a dig at Saini, saying that ever he had become CM, he was constantly flying on his ‘udan khatola’ (helicopter), and that he should come down to focus on people’s grievances instead.
Meanwhile, Vij, remains in action mode despite receiving a show-cause notice. He has suspended Anil Kumar, the Chief Engineer of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL), and transferred him to the Panchkula headquarters.
On Thursday, Vij said he received a report about a fire incident on 9 February at a substation in Sector 107, Gurugram. The fire disrupted power supply to around 22 residential societies and other areas. Disciplinary action was taken against Anil Kumar for failing to report the incident to his senior officials.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also read: Rift deepens in Haryana BJP as Anil Vij asked to justify remarks against CM Saini or face action
