The BJP high command has swung into damage control mode after the absence of Union minister and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh and his camp from the Haryana CM’s Khet Bachao Abhiyan programme at Agriculture University, Bawal, left the party red-faced in its Ahirwal bastion.
The event, attended by CM Nayab Singh Saini and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, saw all three BJP MLAs from Rewari district — Laxman Singh Yadav (Rewari), Dr Krishan Kumar (Bawal) and Anil Yadav (Kosli) — keep away, along with district BJP president Vandana Popli, several district office-bearers and five mandal presidents.
Rao Inderjit’s associates said he could not attend the event as he was unwell, and the MLAs offered individual explanations.
However, one of the three MLAs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rao Inderjit was “humiliated” by a series of protocol breaches in the run-up to the programme.
Sources claimed that after objections were raised by Rao Inderjit’s office, the invitation card was modified and his name was included in the list of speakers. But the changes did little to defuse the resentment.
With the episode causing embarrassment to Saini, the party’s central leadership dispatched a seven-member team to Rewari on Wednesday to assess the fallout. The team, accompanied by a senior district BJP office-bearer, fanned out across over 16 locations — including Khori, Bhalkhi-Majra, Shobha Ki Dhani, Basduda, Bhandor, Tankdi, Gujar Majri and Bhadawas — before returning to Rewari for lunch and heading back to Delhi the same evening.
The team contacted over 100 party workers to gather first-hand account of Tuesday’s events. Several conversations were recorded, suggesting that the high command wants a documented picture before deciding its next move. The team has reportedly submitted its report to the CM and it’s for the leadership to decide whether to act directly or refer the matter to the party’s central disciplinary setup.
Many within the party are also reading the ongoing south Haryana upheaval as a pressure tactic ahead of a much-speculated Union Cabinet reshuffle.
