Haryana's Health and Sports Minister Anil Vij.
The BJP today rushed a senior party leader to make peace between Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his health and sports minister Anil Vij. For weeks, Mr Vij has been seen to be taking potshots at his boss on Twitter, to the delight of the opposition Congress.
Today, after a four-hour meeting with all parties concerned, state BJP in-charge Dr Anil Jain brushed off the matter. "There are no differences between the Chief Minister and Vij, I have spoken to both of them... it is just that while the minister was away, Chief Minister went to some function related to his department."
The visit was reported to have displeased Mr Vij, who directly took on Mr Khattar. "Thank You Chief Minister For Taking Keen Interest into My Departments. I am Relaxed (sic)," tweeted the 61-year-old BJP man, who had reportedly been upset that Mr Khattar was dealing directly with matters related to his ministries without consulting him.
Mr Vij, who emerged grinning from today's meeting, said, "In our party we have the liberty to speak without any pressure."
But Mr Vij is not known to mince his words and his tweets on several occasions had left his party red-faced.
On February 3, he tweeted, "Some people were hell-bent on stopping me from working in my way but they will not succeed." With partymen interpreting his target as the chief minister, he issued a disclaimer two days later, tweeting, "I did not name anyone in my tweet. (Sic)"
Mr Vij, who was voted Haryana's most popular minister, was seen as a contender for the post of Chief Minister when the BJP won the assembly elections in November. But former RSS man Mr Khattar was brought in to head the government.
Now, Mr Khattar's discomfiture and the tension within the government are providing a lot of satisfaction to the opposition Congress.
"This shows that the chief minister doesn't trust his minister, there is a lack of coordination. They don't have experience in running the government," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.