Anil Vij alleges conspiracy to kill him during Haryana polls, says admin tried to ensure his defeat

There were not enough police personnel to prevent attacks on him or his workers at 2 campaign events, says energy, transport & labour minister Anil Vij.

File photo of Anil Vij speaking to the media | ANI

Gurugram: Haryana minister Anil Vij has alleged a conspiracy to kill him ahead of the recently concluded assembly polls in the state.

Vij, who secured his seventh victory from the Ambala Cantt assembly constituency this October, currently holds the energy, transport, and labour portfolios.

In an address to party workers Monday at BPS Planetarium in Ambala Cantt, Vij said that some administrative officials conspired to defeat him by inciting violence during his election campaign to harm him or his workers. He said the matter warranted a probe.

Contacted by The Print on his phone Tuesday, Vij said that twice during his election campaign, some people with sticks reached his events under the guise of farmers. He said there were not enough cops to stop any attack despite him duly taking permission from the election commission and informing the police and the administration about the events.

“It happened once during my event at Shahpur village in Ambala and, on the other occasion, at the Garnala village of the district. I informed the election commission, the returning officer of my constituency, and the police about my programmes. But surprisingly, my security was thinned before the Shahpur event,” Vij told The Print.

“There was not enough (police) deployment for the programme, and suddenly, lathi-wielding men came. An atmosphere for possible bloodshed emerged. I could have been killed, or any of my workers could have been bodily harmed,” he said, demanding a probe.

Superintendent of Police (Ambala) Surinder Singh Bhoria, however, maintained that the police did not receive any complaint of an alleged attempt on Vij’s life or an attack on him.

Contacted by The Print Tuesday, Bhoria said there was police deployment at all events of all candidates, including Vij, according to the norms. “We did not receive any complaint regarding any attack on his life during the campaigning. Nor have we received any complaint now,” the SP said.

In the Khattar-led govt, Vij held the home portfolio

Anil Vij is one of the senior-most BJP leaders in Haryana and has emerged as the MLA of Ambala Cantt seven times.

His first win came in a 1990 bypoll following Sushma Swaraj’s election to the Rajya Sabha. Vij won the seat again in 1996, 2000, 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024.

Vij was one of the most powerful ministers of the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government, with portfolios such as home, health, and urban local bodies, from 2014 to 12 March 2024, when Nayab Saini replaced Khattar as CM.

During his earlier terms, Vij has had confrontations with Khattar, once when a CID man was caught in Vij’s office, again over the CID chief not reporting to him when Vij was the home minister, and then over a senior officer with the chief minister’s office holding a health department meeting without his knowledge when Vij was health minister.

Saini, in March this year, excluded Vij from his first Cabinet. However, after the assembly polls, Saini gave Vij the energy, transport, and labour portfolios in October.

At the same time, the CM has not included Vij in the High Powered Purchase Committee, which traditionally has the most senior ministers as its members. The committee currently has Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda and Urban Local Bodies Minister Vipul Goel as members.

Plan was ‘to strike on the head with sticks’

Anil Vij said that during the election, many games were played on him and that the administration made every effort to defeat him.

“The municipal council stopped the construction of approved roads and halted other projects. The administration tried to incite bloodshed in this election, hoping that either Anil Vij or his supporters get hurt—which then could have influenced the election,” the minister added.

Vij said he obtained permission from the Election Commission to attend a programme in the community hall in Shahpur village. When the Election Commission grants permission, the police give an NOC. However, when Vij went to the programme, he found too many people in attendance. Then, according to Vij, several individuals entered the hall with sticks, leading to a clash.

“Their plan was Anil Vij would jump forward impulsively, allowing them to strike him on the head with sticks. However, I maintained my composure. I want to ask, ‘Where was the police?’ Not a single police officer was present there. I have Z-level security, and I have received international death threats. Yet a day before, half my security was withdrawn,” Vij told ThePrint.

The minister said a similar incident occurred in Garnala despite informing the police, the election commission, and the administration about the event in the village.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)