BJP, Cong unperturbed by Janata Dal leaders' meet

The BJP and the Congress have given short shrift to the regrouping of stalwarts of the erstwhile Janata Dal against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aggressive wooing of their traditional support base.

“In a democracy, everyone is free to group. But are the people with them?” asked Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Javadekar.

He wondered how the Janata Parivar arithmetic would add up in the Rajya Sabha, where he is in charge of floor coordination when Parliament is in session. Though the NDA has robust numbers in the Lok Sabha, it is woefully short of numbers in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress, with 68 members in the Upper House of 245, is the single-largest party.

Together, the six parties—the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Indian National Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Janata Party—which met at SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence here on Thursday have 25 members in the Rajya Sabha. They could be a formidable group in the Upper House in alliance with the Congress.