NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma organised a meeting of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with jat community leaders from Uttar Pradesh and asserted the party had wanted to welcome Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary to its “home” but he has chosen “the wrong path”.
“We wanted to welcome Jayant Chaudhary to our home but he has chosen the wrong path. People of Jat community will speak to him. Our door is always open for him,” Verma said.
According to party sources, Shah also said that the BJP had wanted to join hands with Chaudhary for the upcoming assembly election but he has “chosen the wrong house”.
Reacting to BJP invitation, Chaudhary in a tweet retorted: “Don’t invite me, but invite the families of 700 plus farmers whose houses you have have destroyed.”
न्योता मुझे नहीं, उन +700 किसान परिवारों को दो जिनके घर आपने उजाड़ दिए!!
— Jayant Singh (@jayantrld) January 26, 2022
Chaudhary’s jibe comes over the death of over 700 farmers who died during the year-long farmers protest against the three farm laws, which were repealed during Winter Session of Parliament last year.
Farmers from western Uttar Pradesh had participated extensively in the protest at Delhi borders.
In the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the RLD is fighting in alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.
The RLD-SP alliance is the ruling BJP’s main competitor in the upcoming election. The BJP is eyeing a major chunk of Jat community votes, who have a major population in western Uttar Pradesh.
The meeting at Verma’s residence in Delhi was also attended by Sanjeev Balyan, Satyapal Singh and others.