New Delhi: Call it overzealousness, turf fight, or even a fight over propriety, BJP’s foreign affairs department incharge Vijay Chauthaiwale and foreign cell’s ex-convenor Vijay Jolly are at loggerheads over an online event scheduled Saturday to garner support for Donald Trump in the US presidential elections.
On Wednesday morning, Chauthaiwale came out to mention on social media platform ‘X’ that the party has “nothing to do” with the event being organised by “self-proclaimed senior BJP leader” Jolly.
“The BJP is very clear that US elections is an internal matter of US and BJP is not supporting or opposing any party or candidate in that country (sic),” he said in another post.
At the centre of this row is the NGO Delhi Study Group’s Zoom online programme—scheduled Saturday—to be addressed by Republican Hindu Coalition chairperson Shalabh Kumar. Jolly is the president of Delhi Study Group.
In response, Jolly said that he “did not need a certificate from others” in such matters. “I’ll keep supporting Trump as an admirer, and I don’t need a certificate from others. Trump is a legend and a global hero. Trump has very good chemistry with (PM Narendra) Modi, and the Republican Party has always been sympathetic to India,” he told ThePrint.
“It was Shalabh Kumar and his efforts that we organised a meeting of US Senators with Modi when America was reluctant to give him a visa,” he added.
The Delhi BJP leader went on to assert his long association with the party, especially when it came to serving its activities and interests abroad. He had served as the BJP convenor overseas affairs during the party presidentship of L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh.
“I am one of the founder members who was present in the Mumbai foundational event in 1980, and I am not a so-called senior leader but actually a senior leader of the party. I don’t know about others and I don’t want to join a Twitter verbal duel,” he told ThePrint.
“When PM Modi was the Gujarat CM, as the BJP overseas head, I and (Indian-American businessman) Shalabh Kumar organised a meeting of three Republican senators in Gandhinagar. (This was the time) when our leader Modi was not well received in Europe, America… Shalabh Kumar invited Modi in the US. For the Vibrant Gujarat summits, as head of foreign affairs cell, I ensured the visit of hundreds of diplomats every year. I am a senior leader who has been with the party for the last 44 years,” he told ThePrint.
Jolly was referring to the visit of Republican lawmakers Aaron Schock, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Cynthia Lummis in March 2013. Back then, a section of the media saw the visit as a public relations coup for Modi.
Later, Shalabh Kumar is said to have organised a trip for Modi in the US. A well-known Trump supporter, the Chicago businessman was the chairman of the Indian American Advisory Council in 2016.
As the chairman council, Shalabh Kumar came out with the ‘Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar’ campaign which went viral instantly gathering over 2 million views in the first week. The campaign was instrumental in swaying Hindu voters to cast ballots in favour of Trump.
Meanwhile, Jolly also asserted that his activities vis-a-vis the US presidential elections had “nothing to do with the party”.
“I never visited the Democrat office in the US; and it’s a fact that the Republicans have a pro-India attitude and that our relationship is natural and has grown mature over the years,” he said. “I am a BJP leader, but my efforts to garner support for Trump has nothing to do with the party. It is my NGO’s effort to galvanise support for Trump, and I have every right to support any candidate in the election.”
Jolly added that he was present at the PM’s New York function in September and that he recently visited Chicago, New York, Washington DC where he met several Indian diaspora organisations and people to garner support for Trump.
On Tuesday, Jolly posted an image of him with outgoing Cambodian ambassador Koy Kuong. Last month, his NGO felicitated 38 African heads of mission at Delhi’s Constitution Club to promote people to people friendship between India and Africa.
Jolly’s profile in ‘X’ describes himself as “Global Bharat Brand Ambassador” among others. His timeline is replete with him meeting various people with links to India during his trip abroad.
“Vijay Jolly has his friendship with these diplomats from the days when he was working as the BJP overseas head, but the new dispensation under Chauthaiwale doesn’t want other functionaries of the party run show or outreach programme featuring diplomats,” a source in the Delhi BJP unit told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)