RJD fumes over not being invited to PM's all-party meeting on India-China border conflict

Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal took exception to not being invited to an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss the violent standoff with China in Ladakh, saying the "largest" party in Bihar was ignored.

Tejashwi Yadav, leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly, expressed dismay that his party was ignored despite having five members in Parliament and being "the largest in Bihar".

"We want (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh ji to clarify why RJD has not been invited," Yadav said here.

RJD has five members in the Upper House but none in Lok Sabha.

In the Rajya Sabha polls held in March, the party declined to part with one of the two seats up for grabs for the anti-NDA camp despite protestations from the Congress, insisting that it needed the numbers to be recognized as a party in Parliament.

Manoj Jha, RJD's national spokesman and a Rajya Sabha member, tweeted that "the untenable logic of FIVE MEMBERS gets exposed" and cited the examples of Telugu Desam Party, Apna Dal, Shiromani Akali Dal, CPI and National Conference which have been invited to the all-party meeting despite having fewer number of MPs than the RJD.

"There is more to it than what meets the eye," added Jha, whose party has been staunchly opposed to BJP ever since its foundation three decades ago.

Misa Bharti, Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter and Rajya Sabha member, shared a tweet "jo sawaal daagenge, sahib usse bhaagenge (those in power try to avoid those who pose questions)".

Her tweet ended with the hashtags "alpadaliya khanapurti" and "alpadaliya dhong" implying that the all-party meeting was a misnomer since it left out prominent parties and was, therefore, likely to be an eyewash.