BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma on Wednesday, 26 January, said the party wanted to "welcome" Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary to the saffron fold, but the Jat leader had chosen the "wrong path".
The RLD is fighting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections in alliance with the BJP's main rival – the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party (SP).
"We wanted to welcome Jayant Chaudhary to our home, but he has chosen the wrong path. People of the Jat community will speak to him. Our door is always open for him," the BJP leader said.
His comments came after Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Jat leaders from Western Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi on Wednesday. In the meeting held at Verma's home, around 200 Jat leaders were present.
Soon after, Chaudhary took to social media to reply to BJP's "invitation".
"Don't invite me [to your home], ask the 700+ farmers' families whose homes you destroyed," he tweeted in Hindi.