Dec 03 2014 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)
ET Profile - Niranjan Jyoti: A Dalit Influenced by Ritambhara
Nistula Hebbar |
New Delhi: |
Once a storyteller by profession, BJP leader Jyoti was influenced by Vishwa Hindu Parishad ideology and particulary by the Ram Janmabhoomi movement before taking plunge into complex electoral politics
Much before she shot into national notoriety, Minister of State for Food Processing Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a "katha vaachak" or storyteller by profession was known for her "all weather" song which went thus: "aaj mahasangram ho jaaney do, aar ya paar ho jaaney do" (let there be a battle, let it be decided once and for all).On Tuesday morning her hate speech at a public meeting in Delhi had turned Parliament into the site for a loud mahasangram, with the Opposition demanding her re signation for a hate speech she had delivered the night before. Some Delhi BJP leaders who had invited her to the programme were heard muttering that Jyoti would have done well to stick to her oft-repeated leitmotif than attempt the hate speech that landed her in trouble.
The minister's speech termed the electoral battle in Delhi between the progeny of Lord Rama and `illegitimate children'. Her strong words are not surprising as she counts Sadhvi Ritambhara (of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement fame) as her mentor and guide."Niranjan Jyoti was born in a Dalit family in Partaura village of Uttar Pradesh in 1967. She has three brothers. In her youth, during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, she came under the influence of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Didimaa (Sadhvi Ritambhara) in particular," said a senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh.
In what seems like a natural trajectory, Jyoti contested three assembly polls unsuccessfully before winning in 2012. With BJP determined to break BSP chief Mayawati's Dalit vote bank in the 2014 polls, Jyoti got a ticket to contest from the reserved Fatehpur constituency in the Uttar Pradesh.She won the seat and stuck to her second row place in the Lok Sabha till she was handpicked to be minister, despite having a case under Section 497 (adultery) a particularly tricky charge to stick on a woman in India and not surprisingly charges related to intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace (IPC section 504).
As Parliament was repeatedly adjourned over the `hate speech', it goes without saying that this was probably not the Mahasangram that Niranjan Jyoti had in mind while invoking one.
The minister's speech termed the electoral battle in Delhi between the progeny of Lord Rama and `illegitimate children'. Her strong words are not surprising as she counts Sadhvi Ritambhara (of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement fame) as her mentor and guide."Niranjan Jyoti was born in a Dalit family in Partaura village of Uttar Pradesh in 1967. She has three brothers. In her youth, during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, she came under the influence of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Didimaa (Sadhvi Ritambhara) in particular," said a senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh.
In what seems like a natural trajectory, Jyoti contested three assembly polls unsuccessfully before winning in 2012. With BJP determined to break BSP chief Mayawati's Dalit vote bank in the 2014 polls, Jyoti got a ticket to contest from the reserved Fatehpur constituency in the Uttar Pradesh.She won the seat and stuck to her second row place in the Lok Sabha till she was handpicked to be minister, despite having a case under Section 497 (adultery) a particularly tricky charge to stick on a woman in India and not surprisingly charges related to intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace (IPC section 504).
As Parliament was repeatedly adjourned over the `hate speech', it goes without saying that this was probably not the Mahasangram that Niranjan Jyoti had in mind while invoking one.
