BJP MP Rao Inderjit Singh airs sidelining grievance at party event in Gurugram

Union Minister and six-time MP Rao Inderjit Singh publicly objected to being sidelined at a BJP Partition Horrors Remembrance Day programme in Gurugram on August 14. Speaking on the stage with BJP national president Nitin Nabin and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Rao questioned why local representatives like him were not invited to speak, and why no locals were called to the event. He later walked off the stage, according to reports.

A day later, Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi backed Rao, warning that giving opportunities to younger leaders should not diminish seniors. Bishnoi's intervention expanded the incident into a debate about the BJP's treatment of its old guard. India Today reports that the episode reopened fault lines in the Haryana BJP, highlighting tensions between Rao, an Ahirwal strongman, and former CM Khattar. The programme also carried a Punjabi-Ahirwal undertone, with Rao questioning the prominence given to Punjabis. Rao belongs to the Ahir (Yadav) community, dominant in southern Haryana, while ex-CM Khattar is Punjabi Khatri. No resolution or next event has been announced.