Bihari Sushant, Bengali Rhea, Himachali Kangana — region key in political row on actor death

The line adopted by political parties in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case appears to be largely driven by the electorate that forms their core voter base.

(L-R) Rhea Chakraborty, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kangana Ranaut | Twitter | @Tweet2Rhea, @itsSSR, @KanganaTeam

New Delhi: The controversy surrounding Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has spawned a political showdown that has taken on regional contours. The line adopted by political parties in the matter appears to be largely driven by the electorate that forms their core voter base. 

In Bihar, the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) are invoking Sushant’s roots in the state in their calls for justice. In neighbouring Bengal, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress have weighed in on the controversy by citing the part Bengali lineage of Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, who is under investigation in connection with his death. 

The Trinamool Congress has gone as far as to say she is being victimised for her Bengali identity.

In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has mounted a vociferous defence of “daughter of the state” Kangana Ranaut, who is now a major player in the controversy on account of the claims she has made in connection with Rajput’s death, including her allegations of a drug mafia in Bollywood and her “fear” of Mumbai Police.

Kangana’s claims about Mumbai Police, and the parallels she has drawn between the city and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), have led the Maharashtra BJP to adopt a measured stance on the matter, because the Shiv Sena has sought to portray the actor’s remarks as an assault on local pride.

West Bengal

Rhea Chakraborty, also a Bollywood actor, was Rajput’s girlfriend. She is currently being investigated in connection with the actor’s death, with his family accusing her of cheating Rajput out of money and abetment to suicide, among other charges. 

Earlier this week, she was arrested for alleged drug possession and consumption in a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) case that is an offshoot of the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation. 

Rhea, who has denied all allegations, is the daughter of a Marathi homemaker and a former Army surgeon with Bengali roots. 

On Thursday, senior TMC leader and national spokesperson Saugata Roy said Rhea is being “victimised for being a Bengali”.

“I feel that as Rhea is a Bengali, she was victimised even before she was proven guilty in court. The vilification campaign once again proves the sheer hatred of the BJP towards the Bengalis. We had witnessed something similar in the Assam NRC, too,” 

Earlier this week, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the party’s newly appointed West Bengal president, put out a series of tweets that termed her arrest over drug charges “ludicrous”.

Rhea's father is a former military officer, served the nation. Rhea is a Bengalee Brahmin lady, justice to actor sushant rajput should not be interpreted as a justice to Bihari.#SushantSinghRajputCase
(4/n)

— Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) September 9, 2020

“Rhea’s father is a former military officer, served the nation. Rhea is a Bengalee (sic) Brahmin lady, justice to actor Sushant Rajput should not be interpreted as a justice to Bihari,” he had further written.

At a press conference Thursday, Chowdhury said Chakraborty is being “persecuted on different charges without proof”.

The BJP is using #SushantSinghRajput's death as a major political trump card for the upcoming Bihar elections. Rhea Chakraborty is being persecuted on different charges without proof. They are trying to portray that only BJP can deliver justice to Biharis: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury pic.twitter.com/oBdxQjFzPm

— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2020

However, even as he invokes Chakraborty’s Bengali identity, he has accused the BJP of using actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death “as a major political trump card for the upcoming Bihar elections”.

Bihar

Sushant Singh Rajput, who won the audience’s hearts with his powerful performances in films such as Chhichhore and Dhoni, was found dead at his Mumbai flat on 14 June. He was born and raised in Patna and his father still resides in the Bihar capital.

Weeks before the Bihar assembly elections, expected to take place later this year, the BJP has launched a full-fledged campaign seeking “justice for actor Sushant Singh Rajput”.

Up to 30,000 posters with the late actor’s image, declaring, “Na bhoole hain, na bhulne denge (we have neither forgotten nor will we let anyone forget)”, have been printed by the party’s cultural cell. 

While the party insists that their campaign has nothing to do with the upcoming elections, the BJP’s efforts are being seen as an attempt by the party to woo the state’s Rajput community, to which the actor belonged.

The BJP’s ally in the state, the JD(U), has also jumped on the bandwagon by demanding justice for Rajput.

“I have full faith that the CBI investigation would ensure justice for his family and the people of Bihar,” Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar said at a virtual poll rally Monday.

In late August, Nitish’s party colleague Sanjay Singh had reportedly gone much further, demanding Chakraborty’s arrest and the use of “third-degree” measures to get her to “confess”.  

“She looks like the leader of a criminal gang and her face reflects that she is involved in the matter of Rajput’s suicide,” Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “If the CBI uses third degree, she’ll confess everything.”

In July, former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has called for “justice for Rajput”, and met his family in Patna.

Maharashtra

Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut has been in the news of late for her comments in connection with Rajput’s death, be it her tirade against cliques that she said alienated Rajput in the industry, or the more recent allegations of a drug nexus in the film world.

When her latter claims led a BJP leader to suggest a security cover for her last month, she replied on Twitter that she was “more scared of Mumbai police” than the “movie mafia goons”.

The Shiv Sena, part of the coalition that leads the Maharashtra government, hit back, saying she should stay away from Mumbai if she fears the city’s police force. This led Kangana to remark that Mumbai is “feeling like PoK”, which triggered another exchange centred on Marathi pride.

Even as the central government accorded a Y+ security cover to Kangana amid a perceived threat from Sena members, the Maharashtra BJP criticised her PoK parallel.

Earlier this week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), led by the Shiv Sena, came under criticism for “vendetta politics” when it demolished part of Ranaut’s office for alleged illegal alterations. The BJP was among the critics, but made it a point to emphasise that it didn’t support Ranaut’s PoK parallel either — a comparison she reiterated this week.

I am never wrong and my enemies prove again and again this is why my Mumbai is POK now #deathofdemocracy ? pic.twitter.com/bWHyEtz7Qy

— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 9, 2020

“We never supported her remark equating Mumbai to PoK. Nobody can support. But the government’s vengeance to carry out demolition of her bungalow was not fair,”  BJP leader and former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said earlier this week.

Himachal Pradesh

In Himachal Pradesh, meanwhile, the BJP has taken a much stronger position in support of Ranaut, even saying they are ready to welcome her mother into the party, after she expressed gratitude for the security cover provided to the actor. 

Himachal BJP chief Suresh Kashyap tweeted Thursday that he “strongly” condemns the “Maharashtra government of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP for indulging in political vendetta with Kangana Ranaut”. 

“Kangana is the brave daughter of the whole of India Himachal and the desh (country) stands with Kangana,” Kashyap he wrote. 

Addressing the demolition, CM Jai Ram Thakur said Wednesday, “The Shiv Sena has shunned the principles for which it was formed. Its existence is over ever since it tied up with the Congress to form the government in Maharashtra.”