6-Time MLA Wants To Be Haryana CM If BJP Wins; Dharmendra Pradhan Snubs Him

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), aiming for a third successive term in Haryana, could face an awkward situation if it wins the Assembly polls scheduled on October 5.

Senior leader and former minister Anil Vij said on Sunday he will stake claim for the chief minister’s post if the saffron party returns to power, as he was the “best CM candidate in the BJP”.

Coming as it did three weeks before voting day, Vij’s claim led to raised eyebrows in Haryana.

Not only does BJP claim to have a “disciplined culture”, the party has made it clear that Nayab Singh Saini will continue as chief minister if they receive people’s mandate again.

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is BJP’s Haryana election in-charge, was quick to try and dissolve the controversy.

Ruling out the possibility of change in chief minister if BJP wins, Pradhan said: “BJP’s CM candidate is Nayab Singh Saini,” as he exuded confidence about his party wining a third term in Haryana.

Saini, an OBC face, was brought in to replace Manohar Lal Khattar in March to counter the anti-incumbency threat ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. It didn’t work, as BJP lost 5 of the 10 seats it had won in 2019.

BJP’s losses to Congress included Ambala Lok Sabha seat, which includes Vij’s Ambala cantonment area.

The 71-year-old Vij has won six times from Ambala and is again the party’s candidate.

Addressing a press conference in Ambala cantonment on Sunday, Vij highlighted several projects that he initiated during his time as MLA or Health and Home minister in the Khattar-led state cabinet.

“People come to me from across the state. Wherever I have been, people ask me as to why I never became the CM despite being the senior-most leader. Based on the demands raised by people of Haryana and considering my seniority in the party, I shall stake a claim for the CM’s post. Whether the party makes me the CM or not, it is their prerogative. To date, I have never sought any post from the party, but today, I am staking claim for the post of the CM. If the party makes me the CM, I shall definitely change the face and fate of Haryana,” said said, claiming to be the senior-most leader.

Vij, a firebrand BJP leader, was considered to be among frontrunners for CM’s post in 2014, when BJP formed the government with an absolute majority for the first time. He was, however, pipped to the post by Khattar.

Well, we have to wait for four-five weeks to find out whether Vij tones down his current demand, or BJP finds itself in a situation faced by Congress in the past in states like Rajasthan.