The midnight orders of January 23 relieving Anil Vij of the charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, or CID, may have ended the month-long tug-of-war between the Haryana home minister and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, but is unlikely to ease the Vij-Khattar rivalry anytime soon. Peeved that additional director-general of police Anil Kumar Rao, who heads the CID in the state, was bypassing him and reporting directly to the chief minister, Vij approached the party high command in Delhi, but reportedly got little audience with new party chief J.P. Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and state in-charge Anil Jain.
Publicly, at least, both Khattar and Vij claim to be 'best friends' now, but have not missed an opportunity to take jibes at each other. The Khattar rivalry goes back to the Haryana assembly election in 2014, when the BJP captured power in the state for the first time rising the Modi wave. Vij, an ABVP activist turned MLA and the seniormost legislator of the party, had been as much a claimant to the CM's chair as Khattar.
However, Khattar, a Punjabi migrant and pracharak since 1981, was a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi--he was the party's organisation secretary for the Haryana unit when Modi was stationed in Chandigarh between 1998 and 2001 to oversee the party's work in north India and had also assisted Modi during the various elections in Gujarat. So, when the BJP formed the government in the state, Khattar was vaulted into to the CM's chair, causing heartburn among other aspirants including Vij. The six-time MLA was appointed cabinet minister with independent charge of health, Ayush, science & technology, sports & youth affairs at the time. He made his differences with Khattar apparent, leaving the high command in Delhi to play arbiter.
MORE FROM INSIGHT | Small is beautiful, Madam FM
In the 2019 October assembly election, when most Khattar-baiters like Om Prakash Dhankar, Capt Abhimanyu and R.P. Gautam lost, Vij remained his only challenger. The BJP, which won 40 seats in the 90-member assembly, formed the government, with the help of 10 MLAs of Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party, besides seven Independent MLAs. On Nadda's recommendation, Khattar retained the powerful finance ministry while ally Dushyant Chautala was not only made deputy chief minister but also given 11 cabinet berths, including revenue, food & civil supplies, commerce & industry. Independent Ranjit Singh got power. Vij was appointed state home minister in order "to keep the political balance in the state".
Vij is the first home minister the state has had in the past three decades. In India, most chief ministers control the home department and the police force in their states. When they do appoint a home minister, it is usually a confidant, not a political rival. However, while states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have separate home ministers, the CID has not been allowed to bypass the incumbent. Originally formed to assist criminal investigation and gather intelligence in states, the CID over the years has become a tool in the hands of politicians to dig up dirt on political rivals.
Vij's turf war over the CID began in December when he objected to Rao's appointment as the head of CID. Vij approached the party high command on January 21, expressing his unhappiness about not being briefed, given feedback by the CID or being consulted. He also complained about the CM's intrusion into his professional domain. This included the transfer of nine IPS officers in the last week of December. Vij said he wasn't consulted before the officers were shifted. Subsequently, he served Rao notice for insubordination and not reporting to him.
In response, Vij has been divested of the charge of the CID. "The chief minister is the head of the government and he can keep whatever (departments) he wants to," said BJP general secretary Anil Jain. However, in a compromise of sorts, an official of the rank of the superintendent of police will be briefing Vij daily. This is something Vij told journalists in an informal interaction a day before the actual reshuffle.
MORE FROM INSIGHT | Amarinder Singh's growing headache
In practical terms, this dual structure could result in practical complications. Reporting to the CM, bureaucrats in the state believe, will mean a gathering of 'political' rather than 'intelligence' inputs and keeping tabs on political rivals and allies. The BJP has 40 MLAs in the house of 90 lawmakers and its government relies for support on 10 MLAs from Dushyant Chautala's.
The sudden rebellion of JJP's Narnaund MLA, Ramkumar Gautam, in December caught the government by surprise. In such a scenario, having the CID under his control will come in useful for the chief minister. And keep alive the Vij-Khattar rivalry.