E-Paper
SP, Cong taunt Jayant Chaudhary over his seat at NDA meet; BJP leader explains
The BJP rejected the interpretation, and underlined that Chaudhary could not be accommodated on the dais due to space constraints
NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress on Friday taunted Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary for not being accommodated on the dais at the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lawmakers, saying it was an insult to Chaudhary and the jat community .
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected the interpretation, and underlined that Chaudhary could not be accommodated on the dais due to space constraints at the NDA meeting to formally endorse Narendra Modi for a third term.
On social media, several opposition leaders from Uttar Pradesh counted Jayant Chaudhary’s exclusion from the dais an insult to the RLD, which has 2 Lok Sabha MPs, though Apna Dal (S) president Anupriya Patel and Hindustan Awami Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, both of whom have won just one seat each, were seated on the stage.
A senior BJP leader said space constraints did not allow more than 13 chairs to be placed on the stage.
“While Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu are leaders of the party, and chief ministers, Jitanram Manjhi is a former CM, Ajit Pawar and HD Kumaraswamy are also deputy CMs… And Anupriya was given space because we needed a woman representative...” said the leader.
Asserting that there was no “ulterior motive” or “signal” in the seating arrangement, the leader said, “We could not even accommodate several other allies who have a single member in Parliament...”.
To be sure, Andhra Pradesh’s JanaSena Party led by Pawan Kalyan, who was on the stage, also has two MPs in Lok Sabha.
In a post on X, Samajwadi Party’s media cell said Jayant Chaudhary should walk away from the NDA.
“If Jayant Chaudhary is really a farmers’ well-wisher, he should distance himself from the NDA and raise his voice against the BJP in farmers’ interests. One should not trade self-respect and the interests of farmers with the BJP due to petty and immediate greed,” it said.
UP Congress president Ajay Rai said this wasn’t a first. “The BJP has a habit of doing such things…. insulting its smaller allies,” he said.
The RLD was part of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc but switched sides weeks before the national elections were announced. It was allotted two seats by the NDA and won both; Chandan Chuhan from Bijnor and Rajkumar Sangwan from Bagpat.
RLD MLA Anil Kumar said too much was being made of the seating arrangement. “When has the INDIA bloc given us respect? Whether one sits above or below is not a big deal. One should do politics with a broad mind. One should not think about small matters. RLD is a main constituent party of the NDA and will remain with it,” Kumar told India Today
