Refrain from making comments on religion, culture: Nadda to MPs

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Friday directed party leaders to refrain from making comments about religious and cultural issues, and steer clear of controversies that have communal undertones, people familiar with the matter said.

Nadda held a virtual interaction with BJP lawmakers and underlined the need to refrain from fostering narratives that could be perceived as polarising, said a party functionary. He asked party MPs to stick to a discourse that centred around the Narendra Modi government’s “development agenda”.

“He told the MPs that they should not position themselves as experts on issues of race, religion and culture. They need not get involved in controversies or speak up for controversial personalities such as Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of the Bageshwar Dham,” said the functionary, requesting anonymity.

Recently, several BJP leaders, including Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, visited the Bageshwar Dham in the state’s Chhatarpur district which has been in the eye of a storm over comments by its head about how India should be a “Hindu Rashtra”. Nadda is learnt to have told the lawmakers that if anyone wanted to visit Bageshwar Dham, they should keep their visit “private” and not use the occasion to make political statements. Though Nadda did not name anyone, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari was recently seen sharing the stage with Shastri and singing songs eulogising the “Hindu Rashtra”.

“Nadda told the lawmakers that they should focus on creating awareness about the provisions of the Union Budget, the aspects of the President’s joint address in Parliament...,” a second functionary said.

JP Nadda