Giriraj Singh Finds Himself in Soup Over Absence at PM Modi's Bihar Rally

Patna: Little did Union minister Giriraj Singh realize, while asserting that the March 3 rally here of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would make it clear who stood with India and who with Pakistan, that he would end up explaining his own absence at the public meeting on Sunday.

As the rally was underway here, Singh hurriedly came up with a tweet stating that he had fallen ill while coming to the Bihar capital from his Lok Sabha constituency Nawada.

His absence at the rally invited a flurry of sarcastic remarks by opposition parties in Bihar on Monday.

Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who has floated his own Jan Adhikar Party upon expulsion from the RJD and is married to Congress parliamentarian Ranjeet Ranjan, took a swipe at the union minister of state (Independent charge) for MSME.

It was Giriraj Singh himself who had laid down the yardstick that those not attending the rally would be deemed anti-national. Hence, he himself becomes a traitor. He has been threatening those whom he considers deshdrohi that they would be deported to Pakistan. Which country's visa is he going to apply for, the JAP chief tweeted.

Yadav also peppered his tweet with hashtags #BiharRejectsModi which was trending on Sunday and #DeshdrohiGiriraj.

While talking to reporters here on the issue, senior RJD leader Vijay Prakash said Giriraj Singh has proved that, by his own logic, he is anti-national. In any case, the rally was rejected by the patriotic public of Bihar.

Fazal Imam Malik, national spokesperson of RLSP, issued a statement demanding a public apology from Singh and his expulsion from the BJP with the sarcastic remark he should now tell us who must be sent to Pakistan.

Embarrassed over the development, BJP MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav said our party does not need a certificate of nationalism. Opposition parties are twisting Giriraj Singh's words out of context.

The JD(U), BJPs senior ally in the state, distanced itself from the controversy with its spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar stating it is for Giriraj Singh to explain under what circumstances he said this and offer a justification for the choice of words. Our party has nothing to do with this matter.

Known for shooting from the hip, Singh had made the controversial remark last week in response to a charge by RJD MLA and chief state spokesman Bhai Virendra that the RSS, the BJP's parent body, had sided with the British colonialists during the struggle for Independence.

Meanwhile, the BJP storm petrel continued with his outbursts on twitter during the period of convalescence, advising those doubting claims of destruction of terror hideouts in the recent air strikes across the border to go and seek the proof from Imran Khan and dig up the grave of Masood Azhar and demand an answer while warning of a surgical strike against traitors inside the country.