Gurugram: A day after declaring he would skip grievance committee meetings and even go on a hunger strike—similar to the one farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal is on—Haryana minister Anil Vij Friday took a swipe at Chief Minister Nayab Saini.
“Ever since Nayab Saini became chief minister, he has been constantly flying in an udan khatola (helicopter). This isn’t just my opinion; it’s the sentiment shared by all MLAs and ministers,” Vij said.
Speaking to the media in Ambala Friday, Vij said, “I had submitted a written complaint against those who tried to defeat me in the elections—whether govt officials, employees, or small-time party leaders. It has been 100 days, yet no one has asked me about it, nor has any action been taken.”
“I suspected that a senior leader was behind the conspiracy to defeat me. There was even an attempt on my life. I am the senior most leader, and if I am saying efforts were made to ensure my defeat, action should have been taken immediately,” he added.
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Vij was scheduled to attend grievance committee meetings in Sirsa and Kaithal but decided to skip them.
Vij remarked that since “nothing” had been done for 100 days, he “no longer cared whether they take action or not”.
“Our chief minister has been in helicopters ever since he took office. He should come down and focus on the people. This is not just my opinion; it reflects the concerns of all MLAs and ministers. The people of Ambala Cantonment elected me. I will do whatever it takes for their welfare—even if it means sacrificing my life, staging protests, or going on a hunger strike,” he said.
Speaking to ThePrint over the phone, Vij said that just days after being elected for the seventh time from Ambala Cantonment, he stated at a public meeting that certain individuals had made every effort to defeat him.
Vij said that soon after making this statement from a public platform, he submitted a written complaint to both the party and the state government, naming those individuals and seeking action against them.
“Over 100 days have passed since then and there is no action whatsoever against any of them. Things have come to such a pass that those who worked for my defeat now mock me in public, saying that I haven’t been able to do any harm to them,” a visibly frustrated Vij said to The Print.
Meanwhile, the state government today transferred IAS officer Parth Gupta, who served as the deputy commissioner of Ambala—Anil Vij’s home district—to Yamunanagar. Ajay Kumar Tomar has been appointed in his place.
Gupta, a 2013 Batch IAS officer who was transferred from the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre to Haryana on 19 May, 2015, was posted in Vij’s Ambala district shortly before the 5 October Assembly Elections in Haryana in 2024.
When ThePrint asked Vij about the officer’s transfer, he reiterated what he had told the media earlier in the day—that after more than 100 days had passed, he no longer cared what action the government took against the officials he had named.
When asked to elaborate on his “Udan Khatola” comments about CM Saini, Vij said one only needed to check the flying records of previous Haryana CMs. “The number of flying hours Nayab Saini has accumulated in just 100 days is more than what other CMs have flown in the state helicopter over their entire five-year term,” Vij remarked.
On the matter of other ministers and MLAs “sharing his sentiments”, Vij said others were afraid of speaking.
At an event organised by the Jat Education Society in Rohtak to celebrate the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Chhotu Ram—one of India’s most illustrious Jat-farmer leaders—birth anniversary, CM Saini was seen avoiding media questions. When asked about Vij, he briefly responded, “Anil Vij is our leader”, before promptly leaving the event.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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