BJP Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher finds herself in another controversy

Aggarwal alleged the MP gave him Rs 8 crore for investment. The amount was to be returned after profits.

According to Aggarwal’s petition, he invested the money and in August returned Rs 2 crore to Kher. He submitted that due to fluctuations in the market in November, he sought more time to return the remaining amount but the MP and her aide allegedly started threatening him. They demanded that he return the money immediately, along with interest, he alleged.

The controversy will further put Kher at odds with the local BJP unit, who see her as imposed upon by the central leadership. In 2014, when the party announced her as the candidate from Chandigarh, she had been greeted with eggs, stones and black flags.

A senior BJP leader on the condition of anonymity said, “Things are not clear yet and I can’t really comment on the merit of the case, but such issues do dent the image of the party, especially when elections are around.”

The backlash is also partly due to Kher’s prolonged absence from the constituency after being elected. In the latest term though a chronic illness is behind her absence, with the 71-year-old maintained that she is available for people at her government residence.

One of the first controversies involving her as a public figure surfaced over a remark she made regarding a woman who was raped, questioning why she had boarded an auto which already had three passengers. In damage control mode, she said the following day that she had been “speaking like a mother”. “She (the girl) should not have boarded the rickshaw when she saw three men inside it. I am saying this to protect the girl,” Kher said.

In March this year, while addressing a gathering at a stone-laying ceremony of a project in Kishangarh area of Chandigarh, the MP used words like “laanat hai” (shame on you) and “chittar ferne chahiye (give a dressing down)” for voters.

Speaking about works she had completed at Deep Complex in Chandigarh, Kher said: “Agar Deep Complex mein mujhe ek bhi banda vote na dale… toh bade laanat ki baat hai… Jaakar chittar ferne chahiye unko (If no one from Deep Complex votes for me, it would be highly shameful…They need to be given a good dressing down).”

In June 2022, Kher was slammed for referring to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors as “dunger” (wild), when asked about their behaviour at a Council meeting. “They were breaking tables and glasses. I have never seen such junglipana (hooliganism). Aisa lag raha tha jaise waha dunger ghum rahe hain (it appeared as if animals had taken over),” Kher said, inviting demands from the AAP for an apology.

In June this year again, AAP leader Jasbir accused Kher of abusing him and using unparliamentary words to threaten him. Leader of the Opposition Damanpreet Singh of the Congress has also accused Kher of using a slur against him.

One of the issues Kher has been vocal as an MP on is the Metro project in Chandigarh, saying it would destroy the city. The project was recently approved by the administration at a meeting which Kher was not a part of.

It’s not the first brush with controversy either for Kher’s aide Salaria, who first made the headlines in 2019 after he was questioned following an incident of firing between two rival groups during his birthday party at a club. He claimed he was not present at the spot.