JP Nadda to occupy office once allocated to Vajpayee, Advani
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Jagat Prakash Nadda is expected to be move into Room No 4 on the ground floor of the Parliament building -- a room that was allocated in 2004 to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the chairperson of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), people aware of the matter said.
The room was kept aside for Vajpayee after he stepped down as prime minister when the BJP lost the 2004 national polls, but he did not eventually occupy it. Veteran BJP leader and former deputy prime minister LK Advani later used the room as NDA chairperson.
It has not been in use since 2019, when Advani stopped being a Member of Parliament.
On Tuesday, two of the three nameplates of Vajpayee and Advani outside the room were removed. The third nameplate, which identifies the room as the BJP parliamentary party office, remains in place.
“The room was initially with the JDU (Janata Dal-united)... an ally of the BJP. When Vajpayee was no longer prime minister, the room was converted to the NDA chairperson’s room,” said a person aware of the details who asked
NEW DELHI:
not to be named.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson also has a room in Parliament.
Vajpayee died of prolonged illness in August 2018. He was 93.
On Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda, and party leaders Bhupender Yadav and Arun Singh visited the office and interacted with staff members there, a second person said. The room is next to the BJP parliamentary party office, where chief whips of the party in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha work.