PATNA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and JD(U) — the two leading NDA allies in the Nitish Kumar-led coalition government — are at loggerheads over recent controversial remarks by Patna SSP Manavendra Singh Dhillon.
The IPS officer had drawn parallels between the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
While BJP leaders, including Union minister Giriraj Singh, former Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and state’s panchayati raj minister Samrat Choudhary among others criticized the Patna SSP for having said that PFI members arrested from Phulwari Sharif underwent “physical training sessions similar to what happens in the RSS ‘shakhas’ (classes)”, the JD(U) leaders, including its national parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha, seems defending Dhillon.
Bihar minister Choudhary even appealed to CM Nitish Kumar to act swiftly against Dhillon and immediately remove him from the post of the Patna SSP.
While Union minister Giriraj Singh condemned the parallels drawn between RSS and Islamic extremist organization PFI, JD(U) leader Kushwaha contended that it is “not a political issue.”
“If Patna SSP would have committed any wrong, his department’s authorities who, as per the service code, have responsibility to look into such matters, would look into the issue. It is not a political issue,” Kushwaha said, adding, “Only the higher authorities in the department can decide whether any action should be taken against Dhillon.”
“RSS means love for the nation, RSS means welfare of the nation, RSS means service to the nation, RSS means public welfare, RSS means humanity and harmony, RSS means upholding the Constitution. Every sensible person in the country and around the world understands this, barring a few who have some agenda or stand for appeasement,” Singh, the BJP MP from Begusarai, on Friday tweeted in Hindi, while tagging the SSP’s controversial statement.
Dhillon made the controversial remarks on Thursday while briefing reporters about the arrest of some PFI members from Phulwari Sharif locality of the state capital and the recovery of propaganda material which spoke of converting India into an Islamic state.
Dhillon’s remarks have raised the hackles of the BJP, a frontal organization of the RSS. The BJP leaders have been gunning for Dhillon ever since he made the remarks on Thursday.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi came out with a couple of tweets asking how the police officer could be loose tongued about RSS, which has had among its members top leaders like PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Sushil Modi also demanded “withdrawal of the statement and an apology” from the SSP, though other saffron leaders wanted him to be booted out.
Asked for his reaction over Dhillon’s remarks, Kushwaha on Friday said, “It is not a political issue and we do not have a say in the matter. We cannot comment even on the propriety or lack of it on part of the officer who was speaking about a matter that relates to national security.”
Asked for his reaction over the BJP leaders demanding an apology from the SSP and other actions against the IPS officer, Kushwaha said, “I do not know if an apology will be a remedy. I reiterate that it is not for us to say or do anything. Let the department concerned mull over the matter. There must be a service code in place. If the officer has done anything wrong, he may face action at the department level.”
Asked for his personal opinion whether a comparison between a controversial organization like PFI with the RSS could be justified, the JD(U) leader retorted back, “In this country, we have people speaking irresponsibly about the President, the Prime Minister and chief ministers. I think it is of no use to get into such wider issues now.”
JD(U) leader and state’s building construction minister Ashok Choudhary too seems to be defending the SSP, saying, “Many people, who at any time in the past spoke against the RSS, are today ministers in the BJP-led Union cabinet.”
