After the formation of the newly appointed BJP-led government and the new cabinet in Haryana, ministerial portfolios have been allocated, with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini retaining the prominent Home Department, unlike former Chief Minister Manohar Lal. Since the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections and the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct, no further fresh announcements can be made. The formation and allocation of portfolios among the newly appointed ministers are expected to expedite ongoing development projects and ensure smooth administrative functioning in the state.
It is noteworthy that besides the Home Ministry, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini holds several heavy portfolios, including Revenue and Disaster Management, Excise and Taxation, Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture, Foreign Cooperation, Administration of Justice, Mines and Geology, General Administration, CID, Personnel and Training, and Raj Bhavan. Additionally, any department not allotted to other ministers will also remain under the Chief Minister’s purview.
The decision to retain the Home Ministry by Nayab Singh Saini, unlike the former CM, continues to be a topic of discussion in bureaucratic and political circles ahead of the polls.
. In such a situation, political experts are of the opinion that after having an insight into previous experiences of the Manohar Lal-led state government, he has decided to keep the decide the Home Ministry with himself refraining from any kind of new experiment in terms of the Home Ministry which has been a bone of contention in previous regime of the BJP-run government. With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the portfolio of the Home Minister emerges as the most significant department as the state police as well administrative staff and officers of all the districts come under the Home Ministry. In such a situation, it is believed that in view of the approaching elections, the newly appointed Chief Minister Nayab Saini considered it appropriate to keep the Home Department under his control. Political experts also opine that although Manohar Lal is no longer the Chief Minister, but Nayab Singh Saini who is believed to be his confidant, is moving ahead under his supervision.
It is pertinent to mention that be it IPS officers or IAS officers, being the Home Minister, Anil Vij has been at loggerheads with top brass in bureaucracy while leading to political ruckus as well. Over several issues, Anil Vij was eyeball to eyeball with IPS officials namely former DGP Manoj Yadava, Navdeep Virk and former CID Chief Anil Kumar Rao. Besides, he raised a finger over the functioning of CID Chief Alok Mittal and Home Secretary and current Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad over the issue of Nuh riots that erupted on July 31 last year which led to political chaos in the states adding to the woes of the BJP government. Apart from aforementioned officials, Vij and current CM’s Chief Principal Secretary Rajesh Khullar and his wife Sonia Trikha Khullar, former Health DG and current HPSC member had a fierce tussle till the end of his tenure as Home Minister.
Notably, Before the appointment of Anil Vij as Home Minister by the CM Manohar Lal then 2019, It took place for the very first time after 23 years ago in Haryana in 1996 when any CM has decided to allocate the Home Ministry to any cabinet minister refraining himself from the department. Earlier, Cabinet Minister Godara was allocated the charge of the Home Minister in Bansi Lal and the BJP-led coalition government in the state. After this, former Chief Ministers OP Chautala and Bhupendra Singh Hooda kept the Home Ministry with themselves. For some time now, opposition parties have been continuously accusing the government of law and order failure.
Questioning the BJP’s first five-year rule, the opposition had said that during their five-year rule, there were incidents of police firing across the state resulting in the untimely death of 84 people. It was alleged that the BJP failed to assess the situation or give a measured response during the siege and violence at Rampal’s ashram in Barwala during November 2014, and during the Jat reservation agitation in Rohtak, Jind, Sonipat and Jhajjar districts in February 2016. The government failed. In August 2017, when the Dera Sacha Sauda chief was produced in court, there was violence and police firing in Sirsa and Panchkula. In such a situation, it would not be less than an uphill task to run the home ministry to run successfully.
