'I stand firmly with BJP' Rao Inderjit Singh junks reports of rebellion

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (PTI) Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh Sunday junked reports of a rebellion against the BJP by him and asserted that he stands firmly with his party.
     "Some media channels are running baseless news in which I am being shown as a rebel along with nine MLAs," Singh posted on X in Hindi.
     "All this is baseless and unfounded news. I and all my fellow MLAs (from the Ahirwal region) stand firmly with the Bharatiya Janata Party," the Union minister of state said.
     In the recently concluded Haryana Assembly polls, BJP ended up with its best-ever haul of 48 seats, 11 more than those won by Congress in the elections, while parties like the JJP and AAP were decimated and the INLD managed to win just two seats. Three Independents also won.
     The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government in Haryana will be held on October 17 in Panchkula. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was the party's chief ministerial face in the polls.
     Notably, BJP won ten of the eleven seats in the Ahirwal region.
     Among the winners from south Haryana included Rao Inderjit Singh's daughter Arti Singh Rao, who won from Ateli segment. Most other winning candidates from the Ahirwal belt are considered close to Rao Inderjit Singh, the Lok Sabha MP from Gurgaon.
     Last month during poll campaigning, replying to a reporter's question on whether he wanted to be the chief minister of Haryana, Rao Inderjit had said it was not his wish but that of the people that he becomes the CM. "Even today, people wish that I (Rao) should become CM," he said.
     Rao Inderjit Singh is a prominent leader from predominant Ahir community of southern Haryana and has been a face from that region for decades.
     Having been elected as Lok Sabha MP for the sixth term, three of those as a BJP member, Singh over the years has enjoyed unflinching support of the Ahirs.
     Before joining the BJP ahead of the 2014 general elections, Singh had been in the Congress and was a sitting MP from Gurgaon.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)