2 Thugs, 20 Chowkidars and the UP-standing I.P.Singh

NEW DELHI: Sidelined for several years, I.P.Singh, a senior BJP leader and member of the party executive from Uttar Pradesh, has been expelled from the party for six years. The BJP didn’t provide any reason for expelling him.

Singh had on Twitter described Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah as “Gujarati thugs”, listing the BJP government’s alleged failures, and applauding Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.

In doing so Singh prefixed ‘usooldar’ meaning ‘principled’ to his name on Twitter, in reaction to PM Modi and his colleagues’ Main Bhi Chowkidar (I’m a Watchman Too) campaign, which saw the prime minister and many other party leaders entitle themselves Chowkidar So-and-So on Twitter.

That campaign was in turn a reaction to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s cries of ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ - The guard’s a thief.

In a series of tweets that may have prompted his expulsion, Usooldar I.P.Singh declared that “Two Gujarati thugs Modi and Shah are taking forward the campaign to drown the BJP. The people of the Hindi-speaking states won’t fall for their hyperbole now. The BJP has been reduced to a Gujarat party. The people demand five years’ accounts.”

Singh also tweeted “Why vote for the BJP?”, listing several projects and promises made by the BJP which had resulted in nought. These included the bullet train, the creation of 200 “smart cities” and of modernised hospitals and educational institutions. Not made, not made, not made, he listed.

The BJP had also failed in its Hindutva agenda, according to Singh, for it didn’t fulfil key promises like constructing a Ram temple, doing away with Article 35-A of the Constitution, cleaning the Ganga, and teaching Pakistan a lesson. “Wasn’t made, wasn't done, wasn’t taught.”

Moving on, Singh asked, “Whom have we elected? Does it look good that the prime minister of our country sells t-shirts and tea through his official Twitter account? The BJP has been a party which created an impact in people’s hearts. You can’t build a cadre by wearing t-shirts and giving missed calls.”

Singh then exposed himself to his unsparing gaze, tweeting “I am from the righteous Kshatriya clan. Two Gujarati thugs are fooling the Hindi heartland, Hindi-speaking people for the last five years. And we are silent.”

He added, “Our Uttar Pradesh is six times bigger than Gujarat and our economy is worth Rs 5 lakh crore. What will Gujarat consume and what will it spend on development with Rs 1.15 lakh crore?”

Warming to the theme, Singh slammed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, because “You have not brought about any development in Lucknow [the home minister’s constituency]. Nitin Gadkariji got the 5 km ring road built. You didn’t develop the village in Chandauli district where you were born and brought up. You forgot it. You’ve been lying. The people here know everything.”

A week ago, Singh had welcomed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to contest from Azamgarh in U.P. He said that the people of Purvanchal were happy with Yadav’s candidature as they believed he would enhance the region’s development.