Haryana's seven-time MLA Anil Vij removes 'minister' from his social media bio

Chandigarh, Sep 18 (IANS) Haryana’s senior-most minister and seven-time lawmaker, BJP leader Anil Vij, has removed ‘minister’ from his name on his social media handle ‘X’, creating a buzz in ruling circles.

The minister edited his bio on early Thursday and changed it from ‘Anil Vij Minister Haryana, India’ to ‘Anil Vij Ambala Cantt Haryana, India’.

For quite some time, Transport Minister Vij, who seems upset with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini over his style of working, has been blaming party leaders on social media platforms for internal squabbles, particularly in his Ambala Cantonment Assembly constituency.

Taking a dig, without referring to anyone, last week, he wrote on social media, “In Ambala Cantonment, some people are running a parallel BJP with the blessings of those above. What we should do. The party is suffering a lot of damage.”

In the post, he “seeks public opinion” on how to deal with his detractors within the party.

Widely known as Gabbar Singh of Haryana politics, Vij started his career as a banker and later began his political career as an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader.

He’s the seven-time legislator from Ambala Cantonment and has lost only once in 2005. He won his first Assembly election in 1990.

When he won the last Assembly elections in October 2024, his supporters danced with slogans of ‘Gabbar is Back’.

Outspoken Vij was issued a show-cause notice by the BJP in February for making public statements against the Chief Minister and the state president of the party.

It cited concerns over damage to the party’s image during election campaigns.

At that time, Vij, 71, had claimed that no action was taken against those who played a “role” in trying to defeat him in the 2024 Assembly elections from the Ambala Cantonment seat.

He had alleged that he suspected that, with the blessings of a big political leader, an attempt was made to defeat him. He had also expressed displeasure over officials not complying with his orders, saying for the sake of his Ambala Cantonment constituents, “he is prepared to go on a fast unto death like farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal”.

--IANS

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