New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government’s move to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcate the region into two union territories made headlines all throughout the first fortnight of this month.
But there is one BJP leader who managed to create a flutter in the political circles with his verbal bombs even when the government, opposition and the media were occupied with Kashmir.
This leader isn’t a top minister in the Modi cabinet. He is
BJP’s low-profile, but hugely successful and popular, three-time former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh — Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The senior leader’s rant against India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has caught everyone’s attention.
In fact, Chouhan’s diatribe against Nehru in a span of a few days might be even more than what PM Modi has said about the country’s first PM so far.
‘Nehru responsible for Pakistan capturing half of Kashmir’
Chouhan’s scathing attack on Nehru started in his hometown Bhopal.
He recalled Nehru’s statement in Parliament after China occupied Aksai Chin, which roughly forms 20 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir, during the 1962 war.
“Nehru said in the House he was quite amazed by the fact that members were making such a hue and cry about a piece of land where not a single blade of grass grows,” Chouhan said on 12 August.
He said that to Nehru’s statement, Congress leader Mahavir Tyagi had pointed to his bald head and retorted: “Nothing grows here…should it be given away to somebody else?”
In another instance, Chouhan held Nehru responsible for Pakistan occupying half of Kashmir.
Chouhan said Nehru’s “unilateral ceasefire was the reason why Pakistan managed to capture half of Kashmir and today that part is known as PoK”.
“Sometimes, I get quite amused by Nehru’s thoughts. During the post-Independence India-Pakistan war of 1948-49, the Indian Army was successfully repelling the Pakistani intruders from Kashmir, but Nehru opted to take the Kashmir issue to the UN,” he said in Goa on 18 August while there to review the state BJP’s membership drive.
Chouhan further said Nehru delayed Goa’s liberation from Portuguese rule.
‘Nehru a criminal’
Chouhan did not quite stop there. He went on to call Nehru a “criminal” for imposing Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Nehru was a criminal. First, he committed the crime of announcing a unilateral ceasefire and secondly he imposed Article 370 in J&K. In one country, how can two symbols, two Constitutions and two heads exist?” Chouhan said in Bhubaneswar on 10 August.
Also read: 5 dangerous Right-nationalist myths on Kashmir that need to be demolished
‘Rahul is Ranchhoddas’
Chouhan’s rants were not limited to Nehru. He trained his guns on his great grandson Rahul Gandhi too.
Addressing a press conference in Goa on 18 August, Chouhan called Rahul Gandhi ‘Ranchhod Das’ (deserter) for abandoning his position as the Congress president after the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.
On the other hand, he compared Modi-Shah with Krishna and Arjun.
“The country is going ahead under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. They are busy taking the country forward like ‘Krishna’ and ‘Arjun’,” Chouhan said.
Naveen Patnaik – A fresh target
Five-time Odisha CM Patnaik has also been at the receiving end of Chouhan’s jibes.
“Odisha’s CM is one-of-a kind. Even a CM made out of stones would have learnt to speak Odia after ruling the state for so many years,” Chouhan had said on 10 August in Odisha where he was reviewing the party’s membership drive.
Patnaik has often been criticised for not learning Odia.
Trying to remain relevant
Chouhan’s controversial remarks about Nehru and opposition leaders seem to be an attempt to remain relevant after he lost the Madhya Pradesh elections last year. Unlike former CM of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh, respectively, Chouhan refused to be relegated to the background. Much like Chouhan, both Raje and Singh also failed to return to power in their respective states.
The BJP propped Chouhan up and made him the party’s vice-president with an additional charge of looking after its membership drive across the country, following the electoral loss.
In Bhopal, Chouhan has helped add over 40 million new members into the party fold.
Also read: How Amit Shah, Ajit Doval managed to stun everyone on Article 370 despite telltale signs
Chouhan seems right on target and most Indians agree with his thinking or rather he is reflecting the thinking of the majority.
Not worth commenting except that Mamaji is quite on vyapam scam.
Not in the zone of consideration for CM any longer. Not even a consolation prize in Delhi.
You’re declaring as if you’re the king maker who decides who gets to be CM and Minister?? Have your forgotten the guy from Begusarai?
I dont think that these comments were inappropriate.