J P Nadda summons Giriraj Singh, 'cautions' him over remark on Deoband

BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday summoned Union minister and senior party leader Giriraj Singh and is learnt to have cautioned him over his controversial remarks alleging that Deoband, the seat of an influential Islamic seminary, is the fountainhead of terrorism.

Singh, known for his aggressive championing of Hindutva politics, was summoned to the BJP headquarters in the national capital early Saturday afternoon.

His summoning came in the backdrop of his remarks made in Saharanpur a few days ago. Although Singh left the party office without uttering a word after his short meeting with Nadda, sources in the party indicated that the meeting was necessitated in the wake of his controversial remarks.

Nadda's summoning came days after his predecessor and Union Home Minister Amit Shah publicly disapproved of some of the controversial statements made by BJP leaders during the campaign for Delhi Assembly elections. Shah had said that provocative remarks by party campaigners such as "goli maaro" and "India vs Pakistan" should not have been made, and also conceded that these remarks may have hurt the party in the elections.

In Delhi, the BJP suffered a second consecutive humiliating defeat at the hands of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party — the saffron party managed to win only eight of 70 Assembly seats despite Shah leading the party's campaign from the front.

Shah's admission and Nadda's summoning of Giriraj Singh on Saturday appeared an attempt by the BJP leadership to tone down its provocative rhetoric as the party needs to begin preparing for the Bihar Assembly elections later this year.

(Inputs and image from The Indian Express)