New Delhi: Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Nupur Sharma is back in action, attending seminars, participating in protests and religious programmes, and keeping an active social media presence. But, more than two years since her suspension, her case is still pending before the party’s disciplinary committee.
Sharma was suspended from the BJP in June 2022 for making derogatory comments about the Prophet Mohammad during a TV debate appearance in May that year, cutting short her rising star status within the party. At the time, the BJP had in a statement said it “strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities,” and that it “does not promote such people or philosophy”. Sharma withdrew her remarks later in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Since her suspension, the former BJP national spokesperson maintained a low profile and only made a few public appearances, for instance, during a procession taken out before the pran pratishtha at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in January this year.
While Sharma was suspended from the party pending an inquiry, former Delhi BJP media head Naveen Kumar Jindal who, too, made controversial remarks against the minority community on social media was ousted from the party at the time.
Asked about the status of the report on Sharma, Om Pathak, member secretary of the BJP central disciplinary committee, told ThePrint, “The matter is still under consideration.”
He added that he was still in touch with the stakeholders. “These issues take time to decide. The disciplinary committee is still looking into it. We are in touch with all the stakeholders and these things take time.”
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Return to the stage
For at least two years, Sharma’s last post on X was from 5 June, 2022, when she “unconditionally” withdrew her remarks, claiming it wasn’t her intention to ‘hurt anyone’s religious feelings”.
However, she made her first post after the break in June this year, congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Lok Sabha victory.
From then on, she has posted frequently—from sharing condolence posts on the Reasi terror attack to resharing Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on the review meeting for the Amarnath Yatra.
Her timeline shows that she constantly shares posts by Modi and Shah.
Over the past month, she wished Modi on his birthday and congratulated the BJP for its spectacular win in Haryana elections by posting a picture of her eating jalebis.
She has also started making more public appearances. On 30 June, she addressed a gathering at the Rashtram School of Public Leadership programme in Sonipat, Haryana, talking about Indian public policies and their effective implementation.
In July, Sharma took a veiled dig at the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his “violent Hindus” comments in Parliament that had stirred a massive controversy.
Without naming Gandhi, she said people, before making remarks against Hindus, should understand that there is a conspiracy to wipe out Hindus from the country. “When people in high positions claim that Hindus are violent, or when others say that ‘Sanatanis’ should be wiped out, one should understand this conspiracy,” she said at an event in Ghaziabad.
She then flagged off a ‘Tiranga Yatra’ on 15 August.
Sharma also participated in a protest organised under the banner of Nari Shakti forum, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed organisation against the alleged atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government. The protest also saw the participation of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice chancellor Santishree D. Pandit.
And just earlier this month, she attended a Ramlila programme, sharing the stage with former Delhi mayor Jai Prakash and senior BJP leader and former Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi.
Nupur Sharma ‘can be a good candidate’
According to party sources, the former BJP national spokesperson had also been under consideration for a party ticket for the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh’s high-profile Rae Bareli constituency.
But senior party leaders requesting anonymity told ThePrint that any decision regarding Sharma will be taken at the highest level. “This is not something that the state unit can decide and has to come from the top level. She had regretted her comments and is still part of the BJP, though suspended,” said one senior BJP leader.
While the BJP leadership has remained silent on the issue, a number of functionaries believe the party should give Sharma a second chance and revoke her suspension.
“The outcome of the Haryana elections is a testimony to the fact that Hindu unity is what sets us apart. The party distancing itself from Sharma and then later on Kangana Ranaut did not go down well with a section of the party leaders as well as the Sangh,” said a second senior BJP leader. Kangana too invited outrage with her remarks on the farmers’ agitation ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls, leading the party to distance itself from her.
A third party functionary said that two years is a long time and Sharma should be reinstated as she has been vocal about the “Hindu cause”.
Adding to that, a Delhi BJP leader who did not wish to be named said that while Sharma’s statement cannot be condoned, the punishment meted out to her was too harsh. “From being a star leader who contested against Arvind Kejriwal and Sheila Dikshit she literally had to hide herself fearing attacks on her life. She has suffered enough and with Delhi elections just round the corner, she can be a good candidate.”
Initially part of the Delhi BJP’s media team, Sharma became the national spokesperson of the party in 2020. Prior to that, she had unsuccessfully contested against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi assembly constituency in 2015. She secured more than 25,000 votes, but lost to Kejriwal by a margin upward of 31,000 votes.
Sharma belongs to Delhi, where she studied economics at Delhi University’s Hindu College and law at the university’s Faculty of Law. She also pursued further studies at the London School of Economics in the UK. Her maternal grandfather Madan Gopal Maharshi was a district magistrate in Dehradun, while father Vinay Sharma is a Delhi-based businessman.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)