Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal has claimed that "resentment" against Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav got reflected in the presidential polls wherein Droupadi Murmu got more votes than the number NDA had in its kitty.
Jaiswal, who did not mention Yadav by name, accused the RJD leader of treating his supporters, especially those from his own caste, as "vassals"."Our effective strength in the assembly was 125, as one of our MLAs could not vote. Murmu was supported by 133 members. This is evidence of cross-voting on a substantial scale," Jaiswal said on Friday.
The BJP leader said this was because of resentment in the Opposition camp against their leader who considered all his supporters as "his own halwaha, charwaha" (vassals).
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In an apparent reference to Yadav's recent claim that Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai had once expressed the desire to join RJD, Jaiswal said, "He cannot brook any member of Yadav community making it on his own. Such Yadavs become the target of his smear campaign."
Jaiswal, who is a Lok Sabha MP, also mocked Yadav for flaunting RJD's strength in the 243-strong assembly. "We have many leaders who are more experienced and competent than he is. But he has the temerity to look down upon us just because he won 75 seats, out of more than 150 he fought. We had contested only 110 seats and we won 74," said Jaiswal.
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The BJP's strength now has risen to 77 with three members of expelled state minister Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaaan Party (VIP) having jumped ship. The RJD remains the single-largest party in the assembly with 80 MLAs, having wrested one seat from VIP in a by-poll and weaned away all but one of the five members of Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM.
(With PTI Inputs)
