Anil Vij is the senior Bharatiya Janata Party legislator in the Haryana assembly. He is currently serving for the seventh term as an MLA for the party. He was elected for the first time in 1990 to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. Barring two occasions, when he contested independently and won, he has always represented the BJP.
Being the senior leader, he and his supporters always believed that he was the natural choice to be the Chief Minister if and when the BJP came to power in Haryana. When the BJP stormed to power in Jatland in 2014 riding a pro-Modi wave, he was “shockingly” sidelined as the BJP appointed Manohar Lal Khattar as the state Chief Minister.
Vij’s shock was well justified. Had it been a Jat leader whom the BJP would have appointed the Chief Minister it could be understandable. But the BJP appointed a Punjabi as the Chief Minister in a Jat-dominated state. While Vij was a fifth-term MLA, Khattar was the first-timer. Khattar was specially picked up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to head the Haryana government.
Khattar’s equation with Modi is too well known. Both have served as full-time ‘pracharaks’ in the RSS. Prime Minister Modi said during a public meeting last year that he would sometimes ride a pillion with Khattar on his (latter’s) motorcycle in Haryana. That is the level of personal relationship between the two.
But that was not the only reason for Khattar scoring over Vij. Khattar, like Modi, has devoted his entire life to the organization, first in the RSS and later with the BJP. Moreover, Khattar proved to be an effective Chief Minister, who led the party to its second consecutive victory in 2019. However, when the party felt that under his leadership there was a lot of anti-incumbency, he was replaced with Nayab Singh Saini. Saini is believed to be Khattar’s protégé only.
In most of the cases once a Chief Minister is replaced, he turns a dissident or at least he feels annoyed with the party. But Khattar showed grace and bowed out gracefully and continued to work for the party. He was fielded from Karnal parliamentary constituency in the 2024 General Elections from where he won with a massive margin. He was appointed union minister in the Modi government.
When Khattar was replaced in 2024 ahead of the General Elections, Vij thought himself to be the natural choice for the party as his successor. But that was not to be. There were multiple reasons for that. Vij’s temperament apart, in Haryana caste equations also matters a lot. Vij, like Khattar, was a Punjabi. There was no point in replacing one Punjabi (Khattar) with another Punjabi (Vij). That would not have fitted into the caste scheme and equations of the BJP in Haryana. Instead, the BJP chose Nayab Singh Saini, belonging to the Other Backward Caste (OBC) community.
Here lies the difference between Khattar and Vij. While Khattar accepted his exit, which certainly was not ceremonious, gracefully, Vij could not hide his emotions after Saini was appointed the Chief Minister. He made his disappointment and anger against the party’s decision public. Ultimately he did fall in line apparently in anticipation of getting a chance in case the BJP won for the third time.
Although the BJP did win for the third time, Vij again missed the Chief Ministerial chair. He proved the third time unlucky. In fact, he had projected himself as the Chief Ministerial candidate ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, while the party was projecting the incumbent CM Saini as the Chief Ministerial face. As the party won an emphatic victory against all odds and predictions, Saini was reappointed as the Chief Minister.
Age is not on Vij’s side. He is 72. But in politics, optimism provides the leaders with strength. He still does not seem to have given up the idea of becoming the Chief Minister. He continues to give pinpricks to Saini, directly or indirectly.
Recently he made a not-so-subtle remark, that since Saini became the Chief Minister, he has not come down from his helicopter, suggesting that he was not focusing on governance. Saini, like his mentor Khattar, played down the comment, saying Vij was a senior and respected leader.
While in the previous Khattar government, he had been given the all-important portfolio of Home, albeit not with much power, this time he was given not-so-important portfolios. He had to be content with some politically inconsequential ministries.
As if that was not enough, he recently said that the bureaucracy was not listening to him and other ministers and legislators. That holds universally true across India. With over centralisation of power, the bureaucrats directly listen to the Chief Minister and ignore others.
Vij threatened to go on fast unto death, like the farmer leader Jagdeep Singh Dallewal, in case the bureaucrats continued with such an attitude towards the elected representatives.
There are still almost five years left for the BJP government in Haryana. Vij’s problem is that he does not have any friends or mentors in the central leadership. Even if he may have any, they for sure are not in a position to take up his cause.
Meanwhile, Vij continues to sing his favourite song,
“Mein zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, har fikr ko duve mein udata chala gaya”.
He of course has no other option.
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