Served notice for taking on Yogi officials, this UP BJP MLA is not without friends

The BJP’s notice to Gurjar followed remarks by him on several instances against the Adityanath government, including that a couple of officials ran the show in the administration. He also claimed a conspiracy by local Ghaziabad officials to “eliminate” him.

Gurjar’s latest allegations came last week, after police stopped him from taking out a ‘Kalash Yatra’ carrying the Ramcharitmanas – part of the annual nine-day ‘Ram Katha’ event organised by Gurjar since 2010. The MLA, who claimed he had the required permission for the procession, and his men clashed with the police. Gurjar alleged his clothes were torn in the scuffle and women participants too faced police lathicharge, calling this an “insult” of the Ramcharitmanas.

Soon after, Gurjar announced that he was taking a vow to not change out of his clothes, wear shoes or have food, and to sleep on the floor, till March 28, when his nine-day Yatra will conclude. He said he would meet CM Adityanath and Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana after that and demand action against the police officers concerned.

Two days later, Maurya shared the stage with Gurjar at an event in Dadri. After Gurjar thanked Maurya for establishing him in politics, the UP Deputy CM reciprocated, saying it pained him to see the MLA in torn clothes.

Confirming the notice to Gurjar, UP BJP spokesperson Avneesh Tyagi said: “The party has taken a serious note of the matter, and will take further decisions after receiving his reply.”

Claiming a bid to kill him, Gurjar told The Indian Express: “The yatra was never stopped even during the governments of the BSP and Samajwadi Party, and earlier BJP rule. I never even applied for permission then. But this time, I got a tip-off from an IPS official that the police had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate me during the chaos on the grounds of permission… So I completed the formality of permission this time. Still, police stopped my yatra.”

He was doing “Ram’s work” and would not tolerate any insult to the Lord, Gurjar said. “Yogi raj me latth barasaye jar rahe hain, phool nahin. Dekh lo (In Yogi’s reign, lathis are raining down, not petals),” he said.

Gurjar also claimed that the “conspiracy” against him had been hatched because during the recent Assembly Session he met Adityanath and complained about “corrupt” local officials allowing cow slaughter to “flourish” in Ghaziabad. Starting from the Chief Secretary, the bureaucracy was angry with him due to this, he said.

“While the CM assured action, nothing has happened in that direction so far,” the MLA said, adding: “Maharaj-ji (Adityanath) is Gorakh peethadhishwar (mutt head) and a gau-bhakt. Still, cow slaughter is happening. I am pained by this.”

Already into student politics, Gurjar claims that it was his concern about cow slaughter and “crimes against Hindu girls” that prompted him to quit his job and set up an ‘Ajgar Sena (Python Army)’ in the 2000s. This Ajgar Sena, with the goal of “protecting cows and girls from Muslims”, is not very active now, but exists on paper with Gurjar as its patron.

His involvement in such issues brought him into contact with Rajnath Singh and prompted him to join the BJP, Gurjar says. In 2009, Rajnath was elected as the MP from Ghaziabad. After Keshav Maurya became the party UP president, Gurjar was able to get a ticket to contest from Loni in the 2017 Assembly elections. He won the seat in 2017 and 2022.

When Maurya was deployed for the Delhi Assembly elections early this year by the BJP, and spent an extended time in the Capital, Gurjar was part of his team and given the responsibility of Karawal Nagar and Mustafabad. While controversial BJP leader Kapil Mishra won from Karawal Nagar, a BJP bastion, the party’s success in Muslim-dominated Mustabad was a shot in the arm for Gurjar.

Since the alleged police mishandling last week, Gurjar’s graph within Hindutva circles has risen. Sharing the stage with him, Sadhvi Prachi said “those who misbehaved with Ram Bhakts” during the Kalash Yatra and tore the kurta of “bhai (Gurjar)”, “Bhagwan unki chamdi udhedenge (God will skin them)”. Controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand dubbed Gurjar “Hinduon ka sher (a Hindu lion)”, with the MLA sharing the remark on social media.

On the notice issued to him by the BJP, Gurjar said: “Is taking out a peaceful Kalash Yatra against Yogi (Adityanath)? I am a hardline BJP worker and I have never been against Yogiji… They can do an inquiry… I am with Yogiji.”

He also called the “attack” on him an insult to the Gurjar community. In Western UP, Gurjars are classified as OBCs, the same as Maurya.

Incidentally, cow slaughter isn’t the only thing that engages Gurjar. He claims to have done post-graduation in four subjects – history, political science, sociology and Hindi; is currently pursuing LLM; and plans to do post-graduation in geography next.