Sushant case probe a campaign issue in Bihar - Hindustan Times
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Sushant case probe a campaign issue in Bihar

Hindustan Times, New Delhi/ Patna | BySmriti Kak Ramachandran and Vijay Swaroop
Sep 18, 2020 03:16 PM IST

The cultural cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has brought out stickers with the message: “Na Bhule hai, na bhulne denge” (we have not forgotten nor will we let you to be forgotten). The sticker, with a picture of Rajput and the BJP emblem, is being distributed for use on cars.

The death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, which has been almost daily fodder for the media since he allegedly hanged himself on June 14 in his Mumbai apartment, has now become a campaign issue in poll-bound Bihar, with both the ruling dispensation and the opposition espousing the cause of a fair investigation to find out what led him to take his own life.

Sushant Singh Rajput died on June 14.
Sushant Singh Rajput died on June 14.

The cultural cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has brought out stickers with the message: “Na Bhule hai, na bhulne denge” (we have not forgotten nor will we let you to be forgotten). The sticker, with a picture of Rajput and the BJP emblem, is being distributed for use on cars. The party is also handing out masks with the actor’s name written on them..

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“We have been campaigning for justice to Sushant since June. He ruled the hearts of youth,” the convenor of the BJP cultural cell, Varun Kumar Singh, told HT.

The Congress has accused the BJP, which is a partner in the Bihar government led by Janata Dal (United), or JD (U), leader and chief minister Nitish Kumar, of politicising Rajput’s death although it and its partner Rashtriya Janata Dal too, more or less, verbalise the same sentiment -- the need for a fair probe into the circumstances of the suspected suicide.

Elections to the 243-member Bihar assembly are due to take place in Bihar in October or November -- the Election Commission is yet to take a call -- but the death of the actor, who belonged to Bihar where his family still lives, is figuring in the campaign alongside issues such as the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, job losses and floods.

Nitish Kumar pushed for a probe of the 34-year-old actor’s death by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a call with which the Centre has complied. He also dispatched a Bihar police team headed by Patna superintendent of police Vinay Tiwari to Mumbai for an investigation; the team was snubbed by the Maharashtra government headed by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray; the BJP, which is in the opposition in Maharashtra, had alleged that Mumbai police weren’t serious about probing the circumstances of Rajput’s death.

Another National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), too, sought a CBI probe and claims it was the first to write to CM Kumar to take note of the death, which the actor’s family has denied is suicide.

Tejashwi Yadav, chief of the RJD, an ally of the Congress, was among the politicians who called for a central probe.

Opposition parties that are attacking the BJP for politicising the issue have done so cautiously to avoid a potential backlash. The Congress, which is a part of Maharashtra’s ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, has had to strike a balance between seeking justice for the actor in Bihar and stand by its government’s action in Mumbai.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala criticised the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for politicising the death and termed it as a “new low”; his party colleague and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, pushed for an impartial CBI probe.

“Mr CBI and his masters, how many days will be required to unearth the mystery of the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, already media trial has been continuing in full swing which even can dwarf the judicial trial,” Chowdhury tweeted.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too lashed out at the BJP for trying to leverage the issue for its electoral benefit. Its Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh, on Tuesday, criticised the BJP for using posters of Rajput to attract voters. In a tweet, Singh alleged that when the actor was alive, the BJP had protested against his film Kedarnath.

The BJP has launched a campaign seeking justice for the late actor.

“Tejashwi Yadav first said his party had met the family and were pushing the CM for a fair trial. He even criticised the CM for not meeting the family or even speaking to the Maharashtra CM about the case. He then attacked the CM for not doing enough when the police team sent to Mumbai was forcefully sent to quarantine by the BMC {Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). So if he is allowed to raise the issue, how does the JD (U) or the BJP raising the demand for a fair probe become politicization,” questioned a BJP leader in the state.

As the CBI investigation into the death progresses, there is competition even within the NDA to claim credit for honouring the memory of Rajput.

While the BJP wants Rajiv Nagar Chowk, near the actor’s residence in Patna, named after him and a proposed film city at Rajgir, the LJP has pointed to the fact it was its president Chirag Paswan who made two calls to the Maharashtra CM for a fair and quick probe. The latest entrant into the NDA fold, the Hindustan Awam Morcha, demanded a Padma Award for the late actor.

Watch an interesting conversation with Indian politician & former Union Minister of State, Milind Deora. HT’s senior journalist Kumkum Chadha talks to him about his life in politics & beyond. Watch Now!
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