BHOPAL: You may run into him while buying sabzi from a thelewallah in Tikamgarh. Or see him driving around on a vintage Bajaj. Virendra Kumar Khatik isn't your usual seven-time Lok Sabha MP.
The Dalit leader commands immense respect in BJP and Tikamgarh constituency, but he is still like the guy next door. One who would easily gets on his haunches to repair a cycle puncture. He was sworn in as Union minister for social justice and empowerment on Wednesday,. It's his second stint in the Narendra Modi cabinet.
Virendra goodwill may help BJP with UP Dalit votebase
Kumar, 67, steps into the space left by senior Dalit leader Thawar Chand Gehlot, who was appointed Governor of Karnataka ahead of the mega reshuffle of the Narendra Modi cabinet.
His elevation to the Union cabinet will help BJP woo Dalit voters during the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Kumar’s influence stretches across the border into UP.
This is not his first stint in Delhi. Kumar was MoS women and child development and minorities affairs in the Modi government from 2017 to 2019. He was pro tem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. Yet he has always maintained a low profile.
Undefeated on the electoral battlefield since 1996, he represented Sagar four times and Tikamgarh thrice. A staunch RSS activist, his social work among Dalits has earned him a loyal following across a large swathe of MP.
Kumar used to run a cycle shop in Sagar during the ’80s while actively working for Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He is passionate about the cause of cow protection and is closely associated with ‘Gau Seva Sangh Sanstha’ in Sagar town of Madhya Pradesh.
He participated in the Jai Prakash (JP) movement of the1970s, and was jailed for16 months under MISA during the Emergency. Kumar has relentlessly fought to remove caste barriers and works for the uplift of Dalits. He has started libraries in Bundelkhand, orphanages, and shelters for the disabled. Kumar is now seen as an emerging SC face in mainstream national politics of BJP.
