BJP Loni MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar who has received a notice from the party for “tarnishing” the BJP’s image by “criticising the Yogi Adityanath government in public places” has found support from unlike quarters – Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Gurjar, a two-time MLA from the Loni seat falling in Ghaziabad, was earlier close to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who used to be the BJP’s Ghaziabad MP. However, it was Maurya’s intervention that helped Gurjar get the Loni ticket in 2017 and subsequently 2022, with the 49-year-old winning both times.
The BJP’s notice to Gurjar followed remarks by him on several instances against the Adityanath government, including that a couple of officials ran the show in the administration. He also claimed a conspiracy by local Ghaziabad officials to “eliminate” him.
Gurjar’s latest allegations came last week, after police stopped him from taking out a ‘Kalash Yatra’ carrying the Ramcharitmanas – part of the annual nine-day ‘Ram Katha’ event organised by Gurjar since 2010. The MLA, who claimed he had the required permission for the procession, and his men clashed with the police. Gurjar alleged his clothes were torn in the scuffle and women participants too faced police lathicharge, calling this an “insult” of the Ramcharitmanas.
Soon after, Gurjar announced that he was taking a vow to not change out of his clothes, wear shoes or have food, and to sleep on the floor, till March 28, when his nine-day Yatra will conclude. He said he would meet CM Adityanath and Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana after that and demand action against the police officers concerned.
Two days later, Maurya shared the stage with Gurjar at an event in Dadri. After Gurjar thanked Maurya for establishing him in politics, the UP Deputy CM reciprocated, saying it pained him to see the MLA in torn clothes.
Confirming the notice to Gurjar, UP BJP spokesperson Avneesh Tyagi said: “The party has taken a serious note of the matter, and will take further decisions after receiving his reply.”
Claiming a bid to kill him, Gurjar told The Indian Express: “The yatra was never stopped even during the governments of the BSP and Samajwadi Party, and earlier BJP rule. I never even applied for permission then. But this time, I got a tip-off from an IPS official that the police had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate me during the chaos on the grounds of permission… So I completed the formality of permission this time. Still, police stopped my yatra.”
He was doing “Ram’s work” and would not tolerate any insult to the Lord, Gurjar said. “Yogi raj me latth barasaye jar rahe hain, phool nahin. Dekh lo (In Yogi’s reign, lathis are raining down, not petals),” he said.
Gurjar also claimed that the “conspiracy” against him had been hatched because during the recent Assembly Session he met Adityanath and complained about “corrupt” local officials allowing cow slaughter to “flourish” in Ghaziabad. Starting from the Chief Secretary, the bureaucracy was angry with him due to this, he said.
“While the CM assured action, nothing has happened in that direction so far,” the MLA said, adding: “Maharaj-ji (Adityanath) is Gorakh peethadhishwar (mutt head) and a gau-bhakt. Still, cow slaughter is happening. I am pained by this.”