Haryana Election: Anil Vij, senior BJP leader and former state minister, said he will stake a claim for the Haryana Chief Minister's post, based on his seniority, as he is under immense pressure from the people of the state.
Vij said that he is the most senior MLA in the state and is contesting the upcoming election to become an MLA for the seventh time.
"I never sought anything from the party till today... people from Haryana are coming to meet me. Even in Ambala, people tell me that I am senior-most why I did not become CM. On demand of the people, and on the basis of seniority, this time I will stake claim to become chief minister," Anil Vij told news agency IANS on Sunday.
He said it is the party's decision to appoint him as the CM once it wins the upcoming assembly election.
"Whether they appoint me or not is their prerogative. If I am made CM, I will transform Haryana," he added.
The six-time MLA's remarks come at a time when the party has already made it clear that Nayab Singh Saini will be the chief minister if the BJP returns to power. Saini is also the party's chief ministerial face in the polls.
"Whether the party makes me or not, it is up to them. But if they make me CM, I will change Haryana's 'takdeer and tasveer' (destiny and face of Haryana)," the Ambala Cantt MLA said.
When asked to clarify the remarks he made while interacting with reporters in Ambala, Vij later told PTI over phone, "I am the party's senior-most MLA and have won six elections and am contesting my seventh one. I have never sought anything from my party so far. But people from across Haryana and people of my own constituency have been meeting me... I will stake claim for the chief minister's post.
When asked that Saini has already been declared chief ministerial candidate, Vij said, "There is no bar on staking the claim. I will make my claim, let the party take a call."
Earlier in March, Manohar Lal Khattar was replaced by Saini as chief minister.
Polling for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the votes will be counted on October 8. When BJP came to power in Haryana for the first time on its own strength in 2014, Vij along with few other BJP leaders including Ram Bilas Sharma, was frontrunner for the CM's post, but the party went with Manohar Lal Khattar, a first-time MLA then, as its choice.