Ambala, Mar 25 (PTI) Three days after Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini met former Home Minister Anil Vij, ex-CM Manohar Lal Khattar also met him here on Monday and greeted him on the occasion of Holi festival.
Khattar, who was on way to Karnal from Chandigarh, made a halt at Vij’s Ambala Cantonment residence.
The two leaders hugged each other and wished each other a happy Holi.
Earlier on Friday, Saini had met senior BJP leader and former minister Vij, who was stated to be upset with the party for not keeping him in the loop when deciding to replace Khattar as the chief minister.
Speaking to reporters here after meeting Vij, Khattar said that he was going to Karnal from Chandigarh.
“I dropped in to wish him on the occasion of the Holi festival,” Khattar said.
We remained colleagues in the cabinet for a long period and during our meeting we shared some old memories, he added.
When asked that Vij had been upset, the former chief minister said there is no such issue.
Khattar also said that he has been meeting him at regular intervals.
Even after the recent developments in the state, I happened to meet him. We have also been having conversations on the phone too, he said.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Vij at his residence here on Friday, Chief Minister Saini had said, “I have come here to seek his blessings. He is our senior leader and under his guidance, we have to win all 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana.” In a surprise move a fortnight ago, the BJP replaced Khattar with OBC leader Saini as Haryana’s chief minister in a swift switch in the state, just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Vij did not find a place in the Saini-led cabinet, though his name was said to have figured in the initial list of ministers.
On the day of swearing-in of Saini earlier this month, Khattar, when asked whether Vij’s name was there in the race for the post of a deputy chief minister, had 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, Khattar had then 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 became normal,” he added.
Vij had told reporters earlier, “It was not in my knowledge that the chief minister of our state was being changed. This came as a bombshell to me that the chief minister was being changed.” PTI Cor SUN AS AS
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