BJP president Amit Shah shares dais with tainted politician
BJP says it has nothing to do with D.P. Yadav
New Delhi: After it came under criticism over mafia don-turned-politician D.P. Yadav sharing the stage with its chief Amit Shah during a campaign rally in Haryana, the BJP on Wednesday said Mr Yadav was neither invited to the public rally nor has anything to do with the saffron party.
Taking a dig at the BJP chief over sharing of the dais with D.P. Yadav during an election rally in Haryana earlier this week, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said: “We cannot advise the president of BJP as to what company he should keep... (But) there is an old saying, birds of a feather flock together.”
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Let me make it clear that he has nothing to do with the party. He is not with the party and will neither be and that question does not arise.”
When asked about how he reached the meeting and shared the stage, Mr Naqvi said the party is ascertaining that.
“He was not invited for the meeting and was neither part of it. The matter ends there,” the BJP leader said.
Almost a decade after he was thrown out by BJP over his controversial background, Mr Yadav was seen sharing the dais with Shah on Monday.
Mr Yadav had accompanied Shah to three places in Haryana to canvass for votes for BJP candidates ahead of the Oct. 15 Assembly elections.
On the issue of Mr Shah’s remarks directed at the Haryana CM, Mr Sharma reacted sharply, saying, “I cannot respond to Shah by descending to his level and language. It is not possible for me to communicate in his language.”
Mr Shah’s ‘mujrewala' barb reportedly came at a rally in Hisar.