BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday pulled up Union Minister Giriraj Singh for making a provocative tweet with picture of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Modi attending an iftar party. Giriraj wondered why they don’t celebrate “Navratri” with as much devotion, a comment which triggered a sharp counter-attack from the JD(U), already upset with not having desired berths in the Narendra Modi Cabinet.
The acerbic comments from the Minister came days after the Modi Government took charge at the Centre with the Prime Minister himself cautioning party MPs and leaders from making controversial comments.
The BJP president’s intervention looked a damage control exercise and also an attempt to send down a message to all the leaders and Ministers not to make sensational comments impacting the Government adversely.
Taking a potshot at Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi and other leaders for attending iftar, Giriraj tweeted, “How beautiful would this picture have been if a Navratri meal would have been organised with the same eagerness. Why do we hold back on our own faith and get into pretence,” he wrote in Hindi.
A known detractor of Nitish since the days when he served in the State cabinet under the JD(U) chief, Singh appeared to have aimed his barb specifically at the Chief Minister as all photographs featured him wearing a skullcap and a namaz kerchief covering his shoulders.
The Opposition RJD sought to send feelers to the Bihar Chief Minister in view of “humiliation” unleashed by the NDA partner.
Besides Shah, Giriraj was also rebuked by his BJP colleague Sushil Modi as well as ally Nitish Kumar over his provocative tweet.
“Giriraj Singh makes such remarks deliberately, so that you (media) make news out of it,” Nitish said in response to the Minister’s tweet.
The Minister’s party colleague Sushil Modi had a sharper response. “I don’t know what he tweeted. Let me say, I am proud to be a Hindu. I take part in Holi programmes too, not just iftar. I have been a part of iftar celebrations for 25 years. People who never hosted a Holi Milan party are raising questions today,” remarked the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.
JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh hit back at Giriraj. “He’s in the habit of making such statements and needs a mental check-up now,” Sanjay said.
LJP leader Chirag Paswan said, “Everyone knows what kind of man Giriraj Singh ji is” and the party “would like to tell him that we observe all festivals, whether Navratri or Ramzan”.