Despite pressure from various quarters, the Bharatiya Janata party is unlikely to revoke the suspension of its former spokesperson Nupur Sharma, and has firmly decided against fielding her in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly polls.
Nupur was suspended from the BJP in 2022 after her alleged controversial comments against Prophet Muhammad.
Over the past few months, a section in the saffron unit was pitching for Nupur as a strong Hindutva face to be fielded in the national capital in the Legislative Assembly polls. However, the BJP, after assessing the possible fallout of the move, has decided against any such adventurous move.
“The matter of revocation of Nupur Sharma’s suspension was discussed briefly and an example of Tiger Raja Singh was cited. The BJP had revoked the suspension of its firebrand legislator ahead of Telangana Assembly polls last year,” sources pointed out.
The revocation was a tactical success for the party in Telangana. However, the party has decided against repeating the formula in the national capital. “Any move to field Nupur could have again stoked the controversy that took an ugly, international turn a couple of years back. The government had to use its diplomatic channels to diffuse the situation, an area where it doesn’t want to dwell again,” sources added.
Ever since her suspension in 2022, Nupur has tried to maintain a low profile as there is a danger of her being targeted by fundamentalist elements. However, despite the restrictions on her movement, she has been spotted publicly a few times over the past few months, fuelling speculation that she may be brought back to active politics.
She was seen at the wedding reception of a top BJP leader’s son, while she later participated in a Ganesh Puja in New Delhi. She was also seen performing puja at Mahakal temple in Ujjain a few weeks back. This intermittent surfacing of the suspended BJP leader was seen as an attempt at testing waters ahead of Delhi Assembly polls.
It is noteworthy that after the controversial statement of Nupur Sharma, a tailor Kanhaiya Lal was murdered by religious fanatics in Rajasthan’s Udaipur. After this, concern was also raised about the safety of Nupur Sharma and Delhi Police provided her special security.
