Taking strong action against its leaders, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled Delhi unit media chief Naveen K Jindal, amid protests over their comments on Prophet Mohammad.
Registering protest, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran have summoned Indian ambassadors.
While Sharma has put out a statement saying her words were “a reaction to the insult of Mahadev”, Jindal tweeted “Jai Shri Ram”, updating his profile as a proud Hindu and nationalist.
News18 gives an insight into the lives of the former BJP leaders.
WHO IS NUPUR SHARMA?
An advocate by profession, Sharma was the national spokesperson till June 5. An economics graduate from Hindu College of Delhi University, she later pursued LLB. For further studies, she went to the London School of Economics and pursued law.
From her college days, Sharma was active in student politics and part of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
She won the post of DU president in 2008. She has also served as the national executive committee member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP.
After she joined politics, the party chose her as a face against Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate Arvind Kejriwal in the 2015 Delhi assembly polls. She lost by approximately 31,000 votes.
– Nupur Sharma (upNupurSharmaBJP) June 5, 2022
This is the time she grew closer to the national leadership.
In the past, the West Bengal government lodged cases against Sharma, as she posted pictures of alleged violence taking place in Bengal while making an appeal to people to save Bengal.
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Many had called out the veracity of the picture posted. According to sources, the West Bengal CM’s police had wanted to arrest Sharma, but could not, as she was alerted in time and managed to get reprieve form the court.
“Topmost party leaders helped Sharma in escaping immediate arrest which was planned because of vendetta politics by the Bengal government,” said one of the party’s senior leaders.
WHO IS NAVEEN KUMAR JINDAL?
A ‘Balyakal Swayamsevak’ of Sangh who covered crime and politics in various media organisations, Jindal faced various security threats in the past.
While speaking to News18, Jindal said he met top Delhi Police officials for a security cover for his family in Laxmi Nagar area in Delhi.
“The letter that was made public, of expulsion from the party, had my address. There have been some suspicious characters cited in my area since then. Also, I received threats on social media where people have stated that they would pay handsome amount to those who will cause me and my family harm,” said Kumar.
We respect the faith of all religions but the question was only from those mindsets who spread hatred by using indecent comments on our deities.
I just asked him a question. It does not mean that we are against any religion.
— Naveen Kumar Jindal 🇮🇳 (@naveenjindalbjp) June 5, 2022
Jindal, however, refused to comment on his expulsion. “Whatever the party decides will be for my good,” said the former BJP Delhi media chief.
Jindal had worked with BJYM in 1982 and hails from Meerut. He started his journey in the media in 1989 with Punjab Kesari as his first job. This was followed by his stints at Dainik Jagran, Rashtriya Sahara and Zee News.
Jindal claims he started the concept of crime shows and had interviewed Gazi Baba and Afzal Guru.
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“I had made films on Parliament attack and Akshardham attack as well. In 1990s, I got shot while covering terrorism in Punjab. My house was attacked in 2002 and I got Z security cover,” he said.
He had also contested Delhi assembly polls from Geeta Colony seat, now Laxmi Nagar, in 2003 unsuccessfully.
Meanwhile, he had authored a book titled ‘Islamic Madarse Benaqaab’ and came on the target of madrasas.
In 2013, he had resigned from Zee to join BJP Delhi as its spokesperson and gradually became the media in-charge of Delhi unit, the post he held till his expulsion.
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