Haryana CM Khattar plays down rift between his office & Anil Vij

Pradeep Sharma

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Chandigarh, November 23

CM Manohar Lal Khattar today chose to play down the differences between the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and Home and Health Minister Anil Vij over alleged “interference” in the Health Department.

Issue to be resolved soon

I have spoken to Vij. It is an internal administrative matter. It will not be in public interest to elaborate on it. It will be resolved soon. — Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister

Why minister is miffed

Home and Health Minister Anil Vij stopped clearing files of the Health Department after alleged interference in his department by a senior CMO functionary. The functionary held a review meeting of the department without keeping Vij in the loop on October 5, after which he flagged the issue

Khattar exuded confidence regarding the early resolution of the issue resulting from Vij’s “defiant attitude” in not clearing the department’s files in protest against “interference” by a senior functionary of the CMO.

The CM stated that he was aware of the issue. “I have spoken to him (Vij). It is an internal administrative matter. It will not be in public interest to elaborate on this further. It will be resolved soon,” he asserted.

The trigger point for Vij taking the extreme step of not clearing files was a review meeting chaired by a senior functionary of the CMO without the minister’s “knowledge” in Panchkula on October 5.

Taking strong exception to the alleged interference, Vij reportedly conveyed his displeasure to the CM. The matter later reportedly reached the party high command, following which Khattar invited Vij to discuss the matter. He was reportedly assured that his concerns would be addressed.

Sources close to the minister said though he was assured of early resolution of the matter by the CM over 10 days ago, the CM was yet to get back to him. “The minister is miffed at the repeated interference of the CMO in his departments. The CM must intervene immediately to resolve the issue so that concerns raised by Vij, who is one of the seniormost BJP leaders in the state, is taken care of,” a confident of Vij added.