Ending days of speculation and squabble between Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Home Minister Anil Vij over the control of CID, the state government late on Wednesday night brought a notification divesting Vij of the department, which will now be handled by the CM.
A Haryana government statement said, "Governor of Haryana, on the advice of the chief minister, has allocated some new portfolios to the chief minister and to two ministers. As per a notification issued by the chief secretary, the portfolios of the Criminal Investigation Department, and the departments of Personnel and Training and of Raj Bhawan Affairs have been allocated to the chief minister, Manohar Lal, in addition to his existing portfolios, with immediate effect," the statement said.
Apart from this, the portfolio of Elections has been allocated to Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma while the portfolio of Art and Cultural Affairs, hitherto allocated to Sharma, has been allocated to Education Minister Kanwar Pal, in addition to their existing portfolios.
"Thus, the home minister, Anil Vij, will cease to hold the portfolio of Criminal Investigation Department and the transport minister, Mool Chand Sharma, will cease to hold the portfolio of Art and Cultural Affairs," the statement, issued at midnight said.
The development came after the Bharatiya Janata Party officially said the differences between Khattar and Vij over the CID's control have been resolved. Party in-charge of Haryana, Anil Jain on Wednesday said the issue has been resolved. He said the chief minister is the head of the government and he can keep whatever departments he wants to have. Vij had placed the demand that state CID chief Anil Rao, who is an ADGP-rank officer, be replaced with Shrikant Jadhav, another senior IPS officer, after charging the former with "disobedience and negligent behaviour in official duty".
Rising tensions between the minister and the state CID chief had triggered a tug-of-war between Vij and the chief minister over the control of the department. Khattar recently said the CID remained under the chief minister's control during the terms of Bansi Lal and Devi Lal, an assertion that appeared to counter the home minister''s claim over the department.
After the CID was taken away from him, a sobre Vij on Thursday said he has always maintained that the chief minister is supreme and can take away or divide any department, hours after he was stripped of the charge of CID. He refused to comment on the matter any further.
GOVT ONLY SQUABBLING ON DEPARTMENT, ALLEGES HOODA
After Home Minister Anil Vij was stripped of the charge of CID, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday hit out at the Khattar-led BJP-JJP government, saying it was doing no work except "squabbling over" who controls which department. "Three months have passed, but this government has failed to come out with a Common Minimum Programme...there are burning issues facing farmers, economy, law and order, unemployment rate at 28 per cent is the highest in the country, but this government is paying no attention towards these and is squabbling over who controls which department and is busy in ordering transfers of officials," the Leader of the Opposition told a news conference here.
He was asked to comment on Vij being stripped of the charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which will now be handled by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Replying to another question, he said it was up to Vij, who had once said that "CID is like the Home Department's eyes and ears".
