Gurgaon: Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh’s pointed remarks at an event on Friday turned into a public display of political discontent.During Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas, the senior party functionary and city MP questioned party’s national president Nitin Nabin over the former’s exclusion from the event and took digs at the organisers and the political establishment.“If the sitting MP cannot even be invited to a programme in his own constituency, was it appropriate for me to come here?” Rao asked, referring to the presence of Nabin, Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Haryana BJP president Archana Gupta on stage.However, a senior BJP functionary said, “There is no issue of sidelining anyone and the party remains united.”Rao’s remarks, delivered in the presence of BJP’s national president and senior state functionaries, are likely to fuel discussion over internal equations in Haryana BJP, particularly over the treatment of senior functionaries and elected representatives at party programmes in their own constituencies.A senior BJP functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity, sought to play down the remarks, saying, “Rao Sahib is a senior and respected leader of the party and has his own stature. His concerns, if any, will be heard at the appropriate level. Such programmes are organised collectively and there may have been a communication gap, but it should not be read as a reflection of any larger political divide.”Rao also pointed out that although his name was included in an invitation letter issued by deputy commissioner Uttam Singh, he claimed he had not actually been invited. “My name was not even mentioned in the speeches today,” he said.The minister, who has contested six Lok Sabha elections and won on a BJP ticket, also invoked his political standing, asking if the party MP Sanjay Bhatia would have been left out if a similar programme was held in Panipat or whether Khattar would have been excluded from an event in Karnal.
