Jharkhand unit of BJP defended Jayant Sinha while the party’s central leadership remained indifferent.
New Delhi: As union minister Jayant Sinha’s felicitating of eight lynching convicts continues to draw flak, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s central leadership has officially refused to comment and is in fact, trying to wash its hands off the matter, while the party’s Jharkhand unit has decided to brazen it out and defend the minister.
The overall sense in the party though is that it stands to gain politically from the episode, even if only to a limited extent.
“Jayant Sinha has already clarified his stand. That is all the party has to say. Beyond that, we have nothing to say,” said Anil Baluni, national spokesperson of the BJP and head of the party’s media department.
The Jharkhand unit of the party, however, is singing a different tune. Sinha is the Lok Sabha MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.
“These convicts are out on bail and they have appealed in the state High Court. A final decision on them being guilty is yet to be pronounced by the highest court. Jayant Sinha has not done any crime by meeting these people as it is his duty to meet everyone who comes to meet him in his constituency. I assure you that if they are held guilty by the apex court, we will denounce them as well,” said Sanwar Mal Agrawal, media in-charge, Jharkhand BJP.
“Today Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav and many big leaders are out on bail. Does that mean that people should stop meeting them? Have they not been garlanded because they are out on bail? If maintaining a distance from those out on bail is not applied to rich politicians, then how is it applied to these poor people?” Agrawal asked.
‘Limited benefit to party’
The opposition believes that Sinha’s garlanding of the eight men, pictures of which emerged Thursday, is an attempt by the BJP to step up its Hindutva agenda before the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The BJP too internally believes that Sinha’s actions would benefit it, although to a limited extent. According to highly-placed sources, while the BJP does believe the controversy sends out its Hindutva message, “particularly coming from a moderate face”, it will have a “limited national impact”.
“Sinha is unsure of winning his seat next year. In fact, the party itself does not have much hope in Jharkhand. This move will benefit Sinha and perhaps bring us some gains in the state. However, we feel nationally it won’t really do much for us. But what is true is it certainly does not hurt us,” said a party source. Party sources say that the central leadership is reluctant to comment on the matter because it sees “not much gains or losses nationally”, while the state unit hopes to cash in on it.
Since the row kicked off, Sinha has defended his actions, tweeting that he “unequivocally condemns all acts of violence and rejects any type of vigilantism” and claiming that he was “honouring the due process of law”.
This, however, isn’t the first time a BJP leader in Jharkhand has openly supported those allegedly involved in cow vigilantism. Earlier this year, the BJP MP from Godda, Nishikant Dubey, announced he would pay for the legal expenses of four men accused of killing two others on suspicion of cattle theft in his district. Dubey clarified it was a “personal decision”.