A day after his controversial tweet on the alleged assault of a Muslim man in Gurugram triggered split opinion about him within his own ranks, the BJP came to the defense of East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir’s stance on Tuesday.
As the former India cricketer stuck to his guns and did not remove either of the two tweets, which had irked his partymen a day earlier, BJP insiders maintained that his words were of “a good-hearted and transparent person”.
While social media users like actor Anupam Kher suggested that he let his work, instead of his tweets, speak for him, party insiders said “too much need not be read into” Mr. Gambhir’s tweets.
Support pours in
“Dear @GautamGambhir!! Congratulations on your win. As a passionate Indian it made me very happy. Not that you have asked for my advise but still- Don’t get into a trap of getting popular with a section of media. It is your work that will speak. Not necessarily your statements [sic],” Mr. Kher tweeted at Mr. Gambhir.
Delhi BJP chief and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari argued that Mr. Gambhir had “not done anything wrong.”
“He has condemned a tragic incident as a pure-hearted, empathetic person. Not just this incident in Gurugram, any such incident anywhere across the world needs to be condemned in clear terms just like he has done,” Mr. Tiwari told The Hindu .
A party source said Mr. Gambhir was “used to expressing himself clearly” on social media. “He has tweeted on everything from terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir to Christchurch in New Zealand. It is his right, as a citizen of a democratic nation, to express his views,” said a source. According to another party leader, Mr. Gambhir’s views would “seem to be against the established party line but this was not really the case.”
“When the Prime Minister can express the fact that the party is not in agreement with hard line views, why can’t an MP? The use of the term ‘secular’ is not banned as per the party line,” a leader argued.
Another party source said, “Mr. Gambhir is a little new to the whole system and will learn in time. He is, after all and especially at the moment, more of an expressive celebrity and less of a politician. But he has a clear heart. There is nothing controversial here except in the minds of the media,” the source added.
