Why BJP finds 'racist', 'sexist' Giriraj Singh a precious leader to have in Bihar

Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises Giriraj Singh needs no introduction now. The BJP leader has earned his place in the national politics in a short span of time primarily because of his proclivity to make controversial remarks – a trait he shares with many other politicians from Bihar.

From dubbing the slain Ranvir Sena founder Barmeshwar Singh Mukhiya as a true Gandhian to exhorting all anti-Narendra Modi forces to shift to Pakistan, Giriraj has kicked up storms at regular intervals.

But even by his standards, his recent remarks on Sonia Gandhi were highly uncalled for. During an informal chat with a select group of people at Hajipur in Bihar recently, Giriraj was caught on camera making rather uncharitable remarks on Sonia. He claimed that the Congress would not have accepted her as the party president had she not been a fair-skinned lady.

His opinion evoked sharp reactions with the opposition parties demanding his arrest and ouster from the Narendra Modi government for such “sexist” and “racist” remarks. As the controversy snowballed, Giriraj expressed regret “if his statements had caused hurt to Sonia”. Before deciding to close the matter, the BJP’s central leadership is learnt to have told Giriraj to refrain from making personal attacks on the opposition leaders. This came as a surprise to many people who had been seeking his dismissal from the ministry. After all, this was not the first time Giriraj had made indiscreet remarks. Giriraj, however, appears to have escaped unscathed. Whether the BJP’s central leadership should have taken strict action against him or not is debatable now but the fact remains that the party had no choice but to look the other way when it came to punishing him only a few months before the state Assembly elections in Bihar.

In the past few years, Giriraj has emerged as a formidable leader of a particular upper caste which has rallied behind the saffron party in every election since the ascendancy of Lalu Prasad. Even when he was a minister in the Nitish Kumar government, he had vociferously protested against the implementation of a land reforms commission report which was supposedly against the interest of the big landlords. As a result, the state government had to keep the report on hold.

Giriraj also played his cards well when CM Nitish Kumar was trying to insulate Bihar politics from the rise of Modi within the BJP, which was part of the state government at that time. In those days, when a majority of the BJP leaders preferred to keep mum over Modi "under compulsions of coalition dharma", Giriraj went hammer and tongs in his support of the Gujarat strongman. As if he had sensed the mood of the electorate long before the 2014 general elections, he took on the JD(U) leaders not only by verbally defending Modi but also celebrating his birthday with cakes and flowers every year in an apparent bid to spite them.

All these years, Giriraj succeeded in driving home the message that he was a loyal soldier of his party. His loyalty was suitably rewarded when he was not only given the party ticket from the Nawada Lok Sabha constituency but also made a minister notwithstanding the claims and experience of other party MPs from his caste such as Dr CP Thakur. Even the controversy over recovery of one point one four crore rupees in cash from his house in Patna could not erode his chances.

As of now, Giriraj remains among the important upper caste leaders in the Bihar BJP who are expected to play a key role in the mobilisation of upper caste votes. With the formation of the Janata Parivar front appearing to be certain now, the BJP’s chances of capturing power in Bihar hinge largely on absolute polarisation of upper caste votes in its favour.

With leaders such as Giriraj at its disposal to help retain its upper caste vote base in the caste-driven state, BJP strategists can work out effective strategies to make a dent into the vote banks of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.