Anil Vij stakes claim to CM’s post in poll-bound Haryana; Pradhan says Saini is the CM face

After Union Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh spoke openly of his chief ministerial ambitions on more than one occasion, former Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij too has thrown his hat into the ring, staking his claim to the coveted post.

At a press conference on Sunday, Mr. Vij said he was the most senior BJP MLA in Haryana, having contested and won six Assembly elections, and in fray for the seventh time, but had not made any demand of his party in all these years. “This time, based on my seniority, I will stake claim to the post of Chief Minister. It is for the high command to decide whether to make me the Chief Minister or not. But if I am made the Chief Minister, I will change the destiny and the face of Haryana,” Mr. Vij, contesting from the Ambala Cantonment Assembly constituency, said.

He said that people from his constituency and across Haryana had been meeting him, and it was at their behest that he was staking claim to the CM’s post.

However, his senior party colleague disagreed. “Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is the BJP’s CM face and the party will score a hat-trick of wins in the State under his leadership,” Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday, describing Mr. Saini as a popular leader in the State.

“Being a party worker, he [Mr. Vij] may have said so, but Nayab Singh Saini is the BJP’s CM face,” Mr. Pradhan, who is the party’s in-charge for the Haryana election, told reporters in Karnal, when asked about Mr. Vij’s comment.

“The Ladwa Assembly has become a major political centre of Haryana elections. Ladle (dear one) Nayab Singh Saini of this place has left a special mark in the country in a very short time,” Mr. Pradhan said in a post on social media platform X. Mr. Saini has taken “far-sighted” decisions for the welfare of every section, thereby setting an example for the country, Mr. Pradhan said.

Previously, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had, at a meeting of the party’s State executive in Panchkula in June, had announced that the BJP would contest the upcoming Assembly election in Haryana under the leadership of Mr. Saini.

When pointed out that Mr. Saini has already been declared the chief ministerial candidate, Mr. Vij told the PTI, “There is no bar on staking the claim. I will make my claim, let the party take a call.”

Known as ‘Gabbar’ in Haryana’s political circles for his image of a “stern” administrator, Mr. Vij is also known for his mercurial and impulsive temperament, which is said to have cost him a berth in the Cabinet reshuffle in March this year, after he stormed out of the Chandigarh meeting to elect Mr. Saini as the BJP’s new Haryana Chief Minister at the time. He later said that he, being the senior-most BJP leader, was not kept in loop over the change in State leadership.

Mr. Vij was dropped from the Haryana Cabinet after Mr. Saini was sworn in as CM. He also had differences with former Chief Minister Manohar Lal over alleged interference in his Ministry.

A prominent Ahir leader in south Haryana, Mr. Singh, who had joined the BJP after quitting the Congress in 2014, has also on several occasions earlier and over the past few weeks expressed his desire to be the next Chief Minister of the State. He has often regretted that despite the Ahirwal belt, that is, the Gurgaon-Rewari-Mahendragarh region contributing significantly to the BJP forming governments in Haryana in 2014 and 2019, the community had not received its due.

Former BJP president and senior Brahmin leader Ram Bilas Sharma, who was denied the party’s ticket from Mahendragarh this time, is supporting Mr. Singh, alluding at a public meeting at Ateli recently to having the next CM from south Haryana. Mr. Singh reacted to Mr. Sharma’s statement while speaking to a TV news channel. “If we get enough support and MLAs from south Haryana, the MLAs too would have their say. And going by the political influence of this region, the Centre will bless us for it,” Mr. Singh said.

Some political analysts, however, believe that the announcement of Mr. Saini as next the Chief Minister has not created enough buzz for the BJP on the ground, and it could be the party’s new strategy to allow its prominent leaders from different communities to stake claim to the CM’s post to win support in their respective regions.