Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij on Friday walked out of a meeting after a woman district police chief refused to leave when she was reportedly asked to “get out” of the conference room by the minister. The ugly confrontation took place during a meeting of the District Grievances and Public Relations Committee of Fatehabad which was also attended by Deputy Commissioner NK Solanki.
Despite the minister’s walk out, the Deputy Commissioner continued with the meeting. The minister had questioned Superintendent of Police Sangeeta Kalia regarding a complaint pertaining to unauthorised sale of liquor in villages. On being asked by the minister as to what steps the police had taken regarding the multiple sale points of liquor which had opened in the villages, Kalia said that as many as 2,500 cases had been registered under the Excise Act in the last 10 months, which was a “record”. Vij was, however, not satisfied with the SP’s reply.
As the two continued to argue on the matter, the minister became agitated and asked the SP to “get out” of the meeting. The lady officer refused to leave as she felt she was not in the wrong, and even objected to the minister’s manner. The officer’s response angered Vij, who immediately left the meeting. All BJP workers and committee members present also followed suit.
Later, speaking to the mediapersons, Vij said he would bring the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister and the state DGP and added that in the future, he would not attend any meeting where the officer is present.