Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Haryana’s former Home Minister Anil Vij was not included in the new state Cabinet on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, party leader Nayab Singh Saini took oath as the new chief minister of Haryana, hours after former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and all the ministers in his Cabinet resigned.

The other MLAs who took oath in the new Cabinet include Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Jai Parkash Dalal, Moolchand Sharma and Banwari Lal. One Independent MLA Ranjit Singh was also sworn in.

Vij skipped the swearing-in ceremony after he left the legislature party meeting midway and went to his Ambala residence in a private vehicle, reported PTI.

When asked what transpired in the meeting, Vij told media persons that those “who have come from Delhi will tell”.

Quoting unidentified sources, The Indian Express reported that the former Haryana home minister was unhappy with Saini being selected as chief minister. In the meeting, he also voted against making Saini the chief minister.

Khattar later said that Vij’s name was in the list of ministers to be sworn in on Tuesday. “He got annoyed over something and left,” the former chief minister was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“Anil Vij is a very committed and senior worker of our party,” said Khattar. “Since 1990, Anil Vij and I have had an association. I had worked with him since the first time he contested polls and was elected as an MLA. There had been several instances when he had got annoyed, but he got back to normal soon. We spoke with him today, but he refused to come. We cannot compel anybody against his wish.”

The former chief minister also said that party leaders, including Saini, will speak to Vij again.

“…he [Vij] could not make it to Raj Bhavan for certain reasons,” he said. “We will speak to him and as and when he is available, he will also be sworn in.”

Responding to a question regarding legislators who will be inducted into the Cabinet, Khattar said that the decision will be taken by the new chief minister “in consultation with the party’s senior leadership and soon the Cabinet will be expanded”.

Vij was among the frontrunners for the chief minister’s post after the BJP won the Haryana Assembly polls in 2014, reports suggest. However, Khattar, a first-time MLA, had emerged as the party’s choice for the post.

The overhaul of the state Cabinet comes weeks before the Lok Sabha elections. While the Election Commission has not yet announced the dates for the general elections, the voting is expected to happen in April and May.

The Assembly elections in Haryana are also expected to happen later this year.