Bihar BJP leader Giriraj Singh — against whom a local court in Jharkhand issued a non-bailable warrant following a case for inflammatory speeches in Bokaro — on Wednesday said that he respects the law and would surrender before the authorities on Thursday. Singh also declared that he has not gone underground and was not like Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan who defied the law.
“I am a law abiding person and will follow the legal course in my case. All I have to say is that my statement was not taken in holistic and proper context but then again I’ll surrender before the competent authorities on Thursday,” said Giriraj Singh. Singh has always been known for his staunch support to party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The arrest warrant against Giriraj Singh was issued by a sub-divisional judicial magistrate Amit Sekhar in Bokaro.According to Jharkhand police chief Rajiv Kumar, “A team has been constituted to arrest Giriraj. They have left for Bihar in order to arrest him”. The Jharkhand Police also sought cooperation from the Bihar Police in Patna, however, city SP Jayant Kant confirms that, “The Patna police has not been approached by anyone for this but if someone seeks our support we’ll definitely do the needful”.
After the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant his arrest looked imminent. Giriraj Singh, meanwhile, told the media in Patna that he would follow the directions of the Election Commission.“If the EC or the court has issued such an order I’ll duly follow it. I’m not that kind of a citizen who doesn’t follow the law of the land…I’m not Azam Khan who has refused to abide by the law,” he said.
Earlier, the Election Commission on Tuesday banned Giriraj from campaigning in Bihar and Jharkhand for his highly inflammatory speeches. While issuing directives to Chief Secretaries of both the States the EC asked them not to allow Singh to hold rallies, public meetings, roadshows and also to take all preventive measures to restrain him.
It also had issued a show-cause notice to Giriraj Singh asking him to explain his stand by Thursday. Singh, however, seeks to appeal before the EC.Significantly, the fiery Bihar BJP leader has been sidelined by the senior State party leaders who have pulled themselves out from this controversy. The BJP PM nominee Narendra Modi too tweeted that party leaders should refrain from making such statements.
Singh was the BJP candidate from Nawada lok Sabha constituency, however, while addressing a public rally Narendra Modi declared that he is incharge of the constituency. “If he [Giriraj Singh] would win the poll from Nawada, its development would be my responsibility,” declared Modi.
Apparently feeling isolated in the State party unit, Giriraj Singh also reiterated that he was ready to sacrifice for Narendra Modi a hundred times over. “Earlier, when others were reluctant in even taking the name of Modi I sacrificed a lot for him and I’m still ready for it,” he declared.
While addressing public rallies in Bokaro and Deoghar recently, the fiery BJP leader had reportedly said that all those who are against Narendra Modi should go to Pakistan and there should not be any place for them in Indian.However, Giriraj heaved a sigh of relief, when a local court in Deoghar on Wednesday refused to issue an arrest warrant against him for his reported hate speech in the town. Earlier, a case was also lodged against him in the local police station in this connection.
Meanwhile, the rising temperature of Bihar election politics suddenly shot-up after Giriraj Singh’s hate speech. “This is the nature of the BJP...they want to break the secular fabric of Indi...they want to divide the country and society as well,” said RJD chief lalu Prasad. He also took a dig on former BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s statement that “Casteism is in the DNA of Bihar”.
The JD(U) State president, Basistha Narayan Singh, however retaliated by saying that “He (Giriraj Singh) should be thrown out from the party for such objectionable statements…but I think they are keeping him for such purposes only,” he charged.The State Congress leader and spokesperson Prem Chandra Mishra, meanwhile, too demanded Singh’s expulsion from the party and expressed wonder on how the party and country could tolerate such hate speeches.