Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Giriraj Singh has sparked a major controversy with hate-filled remarks made at a rally in Arwal on October 18, where he declared that he did not want the votes of “namak haram” (betrayers), referring to Muslims.
In a viral video clip, Singh can be seen hurling abuses at Muslims for not voting for the BJP despite, as he claimed, benefiting from various government welfare schemes.
“I asked the cleric if he received the Ayushman card or not. He said yes. Then I asked if there was any discrimination between Hindus and Muslims. He said, ‘No.’ Then I asked, ‘Did you vote for me?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But when I asked him to swear in the name of Allah, he said he did not give vote,” Singh said.
The rally, held to launch the NDA’s election campaign for BJP’s Manoj Sharma (Arwal) and JD(U)’s Pappu Verma (Kurtha), was also attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
During his address, Singh continued, saying that “those who do not acknowledge favours are called namak haram.”
He added, “I clearly told the cleric that we do not want the votes of betrayers.”
The remark has triggered sharp political backlash. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) demanded that Singh be removed from the Union Cabinet.
RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately dismiss people like Singh from his Cabinet. But he will not do so, because the BJP largely believes in the politics of hatred. Come election, someone like Giriraj Singh will make provocative statements in a bid to polarise votes.”
RJD leader Mritunjay Tiwari accused the Union Minister of deliberately stoking communal divisions:
“Whenever elections take place in any State, BJP leaders always play the Hindu-Muslim card. They cannot think beyond that. He is the same leader who earlier said that those who don’t vote for BJP will be sent to Pakistan. BJP has been ruling the Centre for 11 years; have they sent anyone to Pakistan?”
Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, also launched a sharp attack on Singh, saying: “First the BJP leader should look within himself and identify who were the real traitors during the freedom struggle. Identify India’s biggest enemies, those who served the British and perpetuated their rule were the traitors.”
Even the Janata Dal (United) distanced itself from Singh’s speech. The party’s chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, who was also present at the Arwal event, told The Indian Express that the remarks were “contrary to the government’s policies.”
 leader Giriraj Singh has sparked a major controversy with hate-filled remarks made at a rally in Arwal on October 18, where he declared that he did not want the votes of “namak haram” (betrayers), referring to Muslims.){kind=link}