The appearance of West UP mafia don DP Yadav at BJP election rallies in Haryana and sharing of stage with party president Amit Shah has raised eyebrows in political circles.
Yadav reportedly flew with Shah in the latter’s helicopter and attended meetings in Ambala city, Tohana and Bhiwani.Yadav was quoted saying he would campaign for the BJP and join the party if such an invitation was extended to him. Yadav and Shah were seen together at the rally in Ambala campaigning for local BJP candidate Aseem Goel.
The BJP described Yadav’s presence in its election rallies in Haryana as “a matter of inquiry” and the Congress targeted Amit Shah for sharing the dais with the mafia don-turned-politician.The issue is being seen in the context of the on-going debate over de-criminalisation of politics in the country.
Yadav was thrown out by the BJP in 2004 four days after he had joined the party following strong protest by top BJP leaders themselves. The then party president, M Venakaih Naidu, had withdrawn Yadav’s membership after consulting the then Prime Minister, AB Vajpayee, and the then Deputy Prime Minister, lK Advani.
DP Yadav is the father of Vikas Yadav, who has been convicted in the Nitish Katara and Jesssica lall murder cases. The two-time MP and five-time MlA, Yadav, however, denies “ever committing a crime in his life” and attributes charges against him either “creation of rivals or the media”.Quizzed over the presence of Yadav on the dais at a BJP rally, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Yadav “has nothing to do with party… no chance … how he came there we are trying to find out.”
Naqvi said as far as the party was concerned the matter was “closed”.Expressing displeasure over the “mujrewala” remark which was reportedly made by Shah against Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda during campaigning for the upcoming Assembly polls in the State, the Congress raised question on Yadav sharing stage with Shah.
“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,” party spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters here in reaction to the matter of Yadav joining Shah during campaigning in Haryana.