BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj and party MLA Sangeet Som on Monday rejected media reports that they were reprimanded by party chief Amit Shah.
The two BJP leaders who had given controversial and allegedly communally sensitive statements in the aftermath of lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri, told The Hindu that unlike media reports, the meeting was “a routine one” where the party chief asked them about their work in their respective constituencies.
Mr. Som, the BJP MLA from Sardhana Assembly constituency in Meerut, told The Hindu : “There was no question of reprimanding! Reprimanding happens when you have done something wrong. He is our chief and I meet him regularly.”
When asked if the party leadership was unhappy with him over his visit to Dadri and invoking Muzaffarnagar riots in a meeting there, Mr. Som said, “The party is very clear about Samajwadi Party government's bias and appeasement of one community in Uttar Pradesh. And what I said in Dadri is precisely that. So, there was no question party scolding me or being unhappy with me.”
“All I had said in Dadri that those who were part of the lynching should be punished but the SP government should not harass innocent Hindu youths over the issue,” added Mr. Som who was booked by UP police for allegedly uploading a fake video which incited violence during 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots.
He also said the party leadership “completely backs” him and his style of politics. “I would continue to highlight the failures of the SP government and its attempt to communalise sensitive issues which hurt a common Hindu,” he added.
Amidst a charged and tense atmosphere in Dadri, Mr. Som had addressed a crowd of agitating villagers and invoked Muzaffarnagar riots while suggesting Hindu retaliation if the “law does not act like law.”
“If the law doesn't act like law and discriminates then we are capable of giving a befitting reply. We have done it in the past and we can do that again,” Mr. Som had told the Bishahra villagers in Dadri.
The State police had later declared that he had violated the prohibitory orders imposed in the village under section 144 and had recommended legal action against him.
Both Mr. Som and Sakshi Maharaj laughed over the language used by the media to describe their meeting with BJP president Amit Shah.
Sachchidanand Hari Sakshi, popularly known as Sakshi Maharaj told The Hindu : “Media should verify and report. I am a five-time MP. The way some media houses have reported about the meeting insinuating me being reprimanded or scolded, is not responsible reportage.”
“I am a sanyasi. He [Mr. Shah] looked at me and I looked at him. That was it,” added the BJP MP from Unnao.
