Talk Of ‘Hindu Sherni’ Nupur Sharma Contesting As BJP Candidate Has No Basis

By Sushil Kutty

A video of the castaway BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma taking part in a ‘Jan Jagran Yatra’ ahead of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir ‘pran pratishta’ claiming that this was Nupur Sharma campaigning for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections was fact-checked and found wrong. Unlike ‘Meta’, Facebook’s parent-body, India’s fact-checkers hadn’t succumbed to President-elect Donald Trump’s my-wish-is-a-command tactic.

Nupur Sharma all of us know is the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi panicking on the global stage. Like Spiderman’s uncle said “with great power comes great responsibility”, India’s 56″ chest didn’t wait for the consequences!

So, Nupur Sharma continues to be pariah for the BJP though there is confusion on whether she is “suspended” or was thrown under the bus, expelled from the primary membership of the BJP for the mandatory six years?

All we knew was, Nupur Sharma was in hiding and wouldn’t show her head until the devil commands. And the BJP is in no hurry to enact a Nupur comeback. Nupur Sharma’s crime is bigger than her presence in the BJP. If dispense is the word, so be it. Nupur Sharma got the BJP axe when she spoke words that “hurt religious sentiments.”

People of a certain faith went berserk with heads and shoulders and Nupur Sharma became the subject of an international witch-hunt, especially when Gulf Cooperation Countries, such as Qatar and the UAE, not to mention Saudi Arabia, took umbrage and Prime Minister Narendra Modi couldn’t take the rejection on his chin.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no Muhammad Ali. Two words “Modi panicked” trended and Nupur Sharma found herself thrown under the bus. Since then, this has been the BJP’s way of life. The BJP has specialized in throwing BJP workers under the bus, including when BJP’s West Bengal workers were left to fend for themselves when they’re targeted by victorious Trinamool workers.

The BJP under Prime Minister Modi & Union Home Minister Amit Shah regularly throws party workers under the bus. Nupur Sharma was a thorn in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s side. Nupur Sharma was expendable in 2022, Nupur Sharma was expendable for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and Nupur Sharma is expendable for the Delhi assembly elections in 2025, too.

On some matters, the Modi-Shah combine is pretty clear. One of them being anything that threatens Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s international image and footprint, which should one day, before he becomes irrelevant, fetch him the big prize on the global stage. Like Barack Obama got his. And Muhammad Yunus, got his!

The Bharatiya Janata Party is the “world’s largest political party”, surpassing even the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in members and drive. But those at the helm are pygmies. Nupur Sharma was an active member of the BJP, elevated to “national spokesperson” for the clarity with which she put the party’s viewpoint out for public consumption.

But came the day and Nupur Sharma’s clarity went out the window on the television screen. Bright young Nupur Sharma lost her head and her place in the BJP. The Modi-led BJP government couldn’t sum up courage and defend Nupur Sharma who was led like the lamb to the slaughter.

Like everything else about the BJP and Prime Minister Modi, there is still no clarity on the status of Nupur Sharma, whether she’s “suspended” or was summarily removed? The BJP is a one-man fiefdom —Modi’s to toy with and Nupur Sharma fell victim to this hardly spoken about reality.

No BJP leader can survive in the party without Modi’s consent. Nupur Sharma stood no chance, nor pardon, period. That’s where the story stood till recent news reports said Nupur Sharma was on a comeback and that the BJP, after finally finding its mojo, would field Nupur Sharma from the Babarpur assembly constituency — that Nupur Sharma would be the “BJP’s CM face!”

But shouldn’t Nupur Sharma be reinstated, first? Shouldn’t her suspension from the party be revoked? Nobody heard anything about this in the din of the “Nupur comeback.” Social media erupted and ‘X’ broke out in a blitzkrieg. ‘Take back Nupur Sharma’ rose to a crescendo. “Hindu Sherni” Nupur Sharma trended.

But BJP candidates’ lists had no Nupur Sharma in them. Not in the first list, not in the second list and not in the third candidates’ list. Nupur Sharma’s legion of supporters are waiting for the BJP’s 4th candidates’ list. Apparently, candidates for 12 assembly constituencies are still to be named. Maybe, Modi and Shah would name Nupur Sharma in the 4th and final list!

Pipedream! The grapevine says Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah wouldn’t oblige despite the clamour on Social Media. Most importantly, external affairs minister S Jaishankar is adamant that Nupur Sharma should not be given a ticket for obvious reasons connected with diplomacy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s standing on the global stage. Come to think of it, BJP-affiliated YouTubers are already talking of Nupur missing the bus because “Modi-ji has bigger things to accomplish”, like ‘Viksit Bharat’ topping the “to-do” list.

The story, short and straight, is Nupur Sharma’s present and future is hostage to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s present and future. The Modi government had told the Qatar sheikhs that Sharma was a “fringe element” and that she won’t be around. That is what’s happening: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has better things to do than to jeopardize his chances for glory! (IPA Service)