Amid seat-sharing talks for Delhi elections, JDU backs BJP on ‘Purvanchali’ controversy, NDA allies LJP, RLD seek tickets
The JDU, in a tie-up with the BJP, had contested from the Purvanchali-majority Burari and Sangam Vihar seats in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.
JDU Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha (File) As talks between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) (JDU) over an alliance for the Delhi elections pick up pace, the Nitish Kumar-led party Tuesday joined the BJP’s attack against AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Biharis and Purvanchalis.
In a press conference at the party’s Jantar Mantar officer, the JDU played a purported video of Kejriwal from the Covid period where he is heard saying that people from Bihar come to Delhi on a Rs 500 ticket and go back after free health treatment worth Rs 5 lakh.
JDU Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha said, “These days, we often hear of Kejriwal’s love for Bihar and Purvanchal. But look what he is saying in the video. During the Covid period, he forced people from Bihar and Purvanchal into buses and dropped them off at the Delhi border. People were chased away from the city. Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, deposited money in the accounts of all those stuck in Delhi. Food camps were organised to feed people.”
Singh also emphasised that JDU would contest the Delhi polls in alliance with the BJP. “Seat-sharing talks are still on. But we will contest with the BJP,” he said.
BJP sources said while the JDU was seeking tickets on three seats, two other NDA allies – the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP) and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) – were also asking for a share from among the capital’s 70 Assembly constituencies as per a three-one-one formula.
The JDU, in a tie-up with the BJP, had contested from the Purvanchali-majority Burari and Sangam Vihar seats in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections; the RLD from Burari; and the LJP from Kirari, Bijwasan Laxmi Nagar, Seemapuri and Mustafabad.
Former party chief and union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the party would go on a campaign across Delhi with the purported video and “expose” Kejriwal ahead of elections.
“Look at the language used by Kejriwal for Purvanchalis. Is Delhi his personal property? This is the national capital. Kejriwal is a hypocrite and an opportunist. He is not even a politician. He is a bureaucrat with political ambitions. He is saying the BJP is against Purvanchalis. No one is as against Purvanchalis as you. You have ruined Delhi. You have turned a revenue surplus state into a loss-making state by distributing revdis,” Singh said.
The JDU outburst comes in the wake of a controversy over a purported statement by BJP president J P Nadda in Rajya Sabha which AAP has claimed to be against Purvanchalis.
Accusing the BJP of conspiring to “strip Delhi’s Purvanchal community of their dignity and voting rights”, Kejriwal Friday had attacked Nadda for allegedly making “offensive” remarks against the community in Parliament.
“Just two days ago, BJP president Nadda made deeply offensive remarks against the Purvanchali community in Parliament. He compared the Purvanchalis living in Delhi to Rohingya infiltrators and Bangladeshis, and stated that BJP workers were filling out forms to have their names removed from voter lists,” Kejriwal alleged.
After playing a purported video in which Nadda could be seen speaking, Kejriwal added, “We strongly condemn this act and regard it as a well-planned conspiracy against an entire community. On one hand, BJP leaders brand Purvanchalis as ‘Rohingyas’ and Bangladeshis; on the other, they attempt to strip them of their citizenship.”
The BJP has since been attacking Kejriwal, saying people from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana had not forgotten that he repeatedly stated that Delhi’s border hospitals and schools were “under heavy pressure from outsiders”.
JDU’s Singh on Tuesday said Nadda’s remarks were made in the context of Rohingyas and not Purvanchalis.
Meanwhile, BJP sources said each of its NDA allies had asked for a share of seats from specific areas based on the demography.
“While the JDU is understood to be asking for Burari among three Purvanchali-majority seats, the RLD is asking for a seat from Jat-majority West or South Delhi and the LJP for one of the 12 SC-reserved seats in the city. The final decision will be taken by our national leaders and conveyed to their counterparts in the three NDA parties over the coming days,” a BJP leader said.
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