Haryana minister Anil Vij threatens fast unto death over officials 'not complying with his orders'
Ambala, Jan 30 (PTI): Haryana Minister Anil Vij on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over officials not complying with his orders and said that, for the sake of his Ambala Cantt constituents, he is prepared to go on a fast unto death like farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal.
The 71-year-old senior BJP leader, a seven-time MLA from Ambala Cantt, told reporters here that he has stopped holding "Janta Darbar" in Ambala, which he used to conduct every Monday.
"I may not attend grievances redressal committee meetings either because my orders are not being implemented by the officials," Vij said.
"(Baki Haryana ka toh mujhe kuchh nahi lena…) I have nothing to do with the rest of Haryana, but the people of Ambala Cantt have elected me MLA seven times. For their work, even if I have to hold an agitation, I will do that. And if I have to go on a fast unto death like (farmer leader Jagjit) Dallewal, I will do that," Vij, the Transport and Energy Minister, said.
This is not the first time that Vij has expressed his displeasure with officials. In October, he had voiced frustration over the "absence" of some senior officers at a meeting he had called in Ambala.
Previously, Vij had often been at odds with Manohar Lal Khattar when he was Haryana's Chief Minister. Khattar is currently serving as a Union Minister.
When the BJP first came to power in Haryana in 2014, Vij, along with other BJP leaders like Ram Bilas Sharma, was considered a frontrunner for the CM's post. However, the party chose Manohar Lal Khattar, a first-time MLA at the time, as its CM candidate.
In March 2024, Vij expressed dissatisfaction with the BJP for not consulting him when the party decided to replace Khattar as chief minister and bring in Nayab Singh Saini instead.
Vij claimed he only learned about the change during a BJP MLAs' meeting in Chandigarh when Saini's name was announced.
In September 2024, just days before the Assembly elections, Vij stated that he would stake a claim for the chief minister's post if the party won.
"When Nayab Saini replaced Khattar, people asked, 'Why not Anil Vij?' Many from the state and my constituency met me regarding this…. I have always obeyed my party's orders, but I said, if the party makes me CM, I will change Haryana's 'takdeer and tasveer,'" Vij had said in September.
Vij had recently said that Mohan Lal Badoli, who was booked in a gang-rape case, should resign from the post of state BJP chief to maintain the "sanctity" of the party until he is proven innocent in an investigation by the Himachal Pradesh police.
Haryana BJP chief Badoli and singer Rocky Mittal have been booked after a woman alleged that she was raped by them in a hotel in Himachal Pradesh's Kasauli. Police have registered an FIR against them.
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Kash Patel sworn in at White House as new FBI director, calls it 'greatest honour'
Washington (AP): Kash Patel was sworn in as the FBI director and he called the opportunity to lead the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency the "greatest honour" of his life.
Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, breaking party ranks and voting against him.
"I think he'll go down as the best ever at that position," President Donald Trump told reporters Friday ahead of the White House swearing-in on Friday, which was conducted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and attended by Republican supporters in Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Trump added that the "agents love this guy".
Patel will inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil as the Justice Department over the past month has forced out a group of senior bureau officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
Democrats had sounded the alarm about the appointment, saying they fear Patel will operate as a loyalist for Trump and abuse the FBI's law enforcement powers to go after the president's adversaries. They've cited past comments such as his suggestion before he was nominated that he would "come after" anti-Trump "conspirators" in the government and media.
Patel sought to assuage those concerns at his confirmation hearing last month, saying he intended to follow the Constitution and had no interest in pursuing retribution, though he also said at his swearing-in Friday that reporters had written "fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory" stories about him.
Republicans angry over what they see as law enforcement bias against conservatives during the Democratic Biden administration, as well as criminal investigations into Trump, have rallied behind Patel as the right person for the job.
Patel has spoken of his desire to implement major changes at the FBI, including a reduced footprint in Washington and a renewed emphasis on the bureau's traditional crime-fighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering work that has come to define its mandate over the past two decades as national security threats have proliferated.
He said Friday that the FBI's "national security mission" was equally as important as its efforts to fight violent crime and drug overdoses.
"Anyone that wishes to do harm to our way of life and our citizens, here and abroad, will face the full wrath of the DOJ and FBI," Patel said. "If you seek to hide in any corner of this country or planet, we will put on the world's largest manhunt and we will find you and we will decide your end-state."
A former Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, Patel was selected in November to replace Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump in 2017 and who resigned at the conclusion of the Biden administration to make way for his chosen successor.
Wray infuriated Trump throughout his tenure, including after FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August 2022 for classified documents in one of two federal investigations that resulted in indictments against Trump that were dismissed after his election win.
FBI directors are given 10-year terms as a way to insulate them from political influence and keep them from becoming beholden to a particular president or administration. But Trump fired the FBI director he inherited, James Comey, after Comey had spent over three years on the job and replaced Wray after more than seven years in the position.
