Anil Vij

Anil Vij is the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and the former Home Minister of Haryana. Vij contested his first Assembly election from the Ambala Cantonment constituency in 1990 when Sushma Swaraj left the seat and became a Rajya Sabha member. He won the byelection. In the 1991 Haryana polls, Vij was defeated by Congress candidate Brij Anand by 8,017 votes. In 1996 and 2000, Anil Vij stood as an independent candidate and won on both occasions. In the 1996 polls, Vij defeated Congress candidate Raj Rani by 6,090 votes. In the 2000 elections, Vij won the seat by defeating the BJP's Kabir Dev with a margin of 9,057 votes. However, he lost the election in 2005 against Congress candidate Devender Kumar by just 615 votes. Vij returned to the BJP and won three consecutive elections in 2009, 2014, and 2019. He held several ministries, including Home, Urban Development, Technical Education, Science and Technology, Health, Medical Education, AYUSH, Sports, and Youth Affairs, in the Manohar Lal Khattar government from 2014 to 2024. He is again contesting from the Ambala Cantt constituency in the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls.