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Former Haryana home minister Anil Vij, who skipped Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini's swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, said he will take part in the floor test to be held on Wednesday.
“I am a 'bhakt' (devotee) of the BJP. Circumstances keep on changing, but I have worked for the party in every situation. I will work today as well and with more power,” Anil Vij told reporters in Ambala, before leaving for Chandigarh.
On Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini as Haryana’s chief minister in a swift switch in the state, just weeks ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to reporters in Chandigarh, former chief minister Khattar, when asked whether Vij's name was there in the race for the post of a deputy chief minister, said, "Ministers had to take oath today and his (Vij's) name was on that (list). But he could not come."
Asked whether Vij was upset, he said, "Anil Vij is our senior colleague... He sometimes gets upset easily, but he becomes normal later."
In the past too, there have been many incidents when Vij got upset over something but later on things were normal, said Khattar.
"I spoke with him. He said he did not feel like coming (for the oath-taking event). We will speak to him. Nayab Saini ji will also speak to him," he added.
Vij was learnt to be upset as the party decided to elevate Saini, ignoring the Ambala Cantt MLA.
Vij had walked out of the BJP legislature party meeting, in which Saini was elected as the leader, in a huff.
After the meeting, he didn't attend the swearing-in ceremony and headed straight to his Ambala residence in a private vehicle.
Emerging out of the BJP's meeting in Haryana Niwas before Saini's oath-taking ceremony, when asked what transpired in the meeting, Vij evaded a direct reply, saying batane wale batayenge.
"Those who have come from Delhi will tell," said Vij as he was seen leaving in a huff.
Notably, in 2014 too, when Vij was among the frontrunners for the post of chief minister after the BJP came to power on its own strength in Haryana, the party chose Khattar, then a first-time MLA, for the post.
WIth inputs from PTI