Friction in NDA? Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit meets PM, contradicts Khattar’s stand   

The Nuh violence, that left six people dead, many injured and recorded huge loss of property, brought growing unease within BJP and friction among NDA allies to the surface.

After Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) chief, Dushyant Chautala who is also deputy chief minister in Haryana government, embarrassed Khattar government by blaming Bajrang Dal for the violence, Gurugram MP and union minster Rao Inderjit Singh met PM Modi on Wednesday and briefed him about the situation on the ground.

Rao Inderjit Singh – a former Congressman, who is one of the most influential Jat leaders in contemporary politics – has reportedly contradicted the narrative over the violence fanned by his own party BJP and the right-wing on social media.

According to sources he also questioned the ‘conspiracy theory’ propagated by the Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. He reportedly told PM that that Hindus who were taking part in the procession, were also carrying swords.

"If both the sides were carrying arms, then it is a question of the investigation who provided them those arms," Rao was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

"This [carrying weapons] is wrong. A provocation took place from this side too. I am not saying there was no provocation from the other side," he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express on Tuesday.

Sources said that Rao told PM that a small incident of stone pelting flared up in communal tension and spread to other parts of the state because “there was a planning” behind it.

Though Rao said he met PM to invite him for the inauguration of AIIMS in Haryana, political watchers believe that Rao going public against his own party, contradicting BJP’s stand is a reflection of the growing unease within BJP and between BJP and its allies.

Five term MP Rao was the first to issue an appeal, asking people to maintain peace. Referring to the peaceful past of the region, in a video message released on July 31, he said that Nuh has always demonstrated bhaichara. We will not let this be destroyed.

While Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar blamed a conspiracy behind the violence Chautala blamed the organisers of the rally [Bajrang Dal] for the tension. Dushyant said the organisers did not provide full information about the rally and the number of participants which resulted in violence.