Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Friday sought to play down his ongoing tussle with Home Minister Anil Vij, who has expressed his displeasure over the defiance of the officers in his Department and the CMO overruling him in the matter of transfers of IPS officers.
A day after meeting BJP’s working President JP Nadda in Delhi to seek his intervention to appease Minister Anil Vij, the Chief Minister claimed that issue is sorted out.
“We have discussed with him (Anil Vij) and things are fine…,” said Manohar Lal, when asked about his differences with the Home Minister.
“It is a mere speculation. I met Nadda to discuss Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and forthcoming elections in Delhi,” he added.
Only a day back, senior BJP Minister Anil Vij had challenged the Haryana Government to take back his Home portfolio if it continues to function in the same manner.
Perturbed over the defiance of the officers in his Department and the Chief Minister’s office taking decisions regarding IPS transfers without keeping him in the loop, Vij had said, “Although the Chief Minister has power to overrule me, but I should be kept in the loop at least.”
Vij had reportedly also pulled up the State’s intelligence department (CID) recently for allegedly not sharing information sought by him on recent assembly polls and had also marked a dissent note to the Chief Minister over transfer of nine IPS officers without taking him in confidence.
Commenting on the ongoing tussle, Haryana BJP affairs in-charge Anil Jain has said that the Chief Minister is supreme in any matter.Notably, in the first term of the BJP Government in Haryana, the Home Portfolio was kept by the Chief Minister himself.
However, in BJP’s second term the prestigious Home Portfolio was given to Vij with independent charge.
The allocation of Home portfolio to Vij, senior-most Minister in Haryana Government had come as a surprise to many but the BJP’s move to appoint was crucial to balance out heavyweight Dushyant Chautala of the JJP who was made the Deputy Chief Minister for lending support to the BJP for forming the government.
Meanwhile, it is not the first time that the two senior BJP leaders are locked in a power tussle.
During BJP’s first term in Haryana also, Anil Vij had hurled barbs at Manohar Lalfor interfering in his Departments.
Vij also did not shy away from questioning the functioning of his own government on several occasions.
At that time also, the BJP high command had intervened to pacify Vij.