New Delhi: At a time when the party’s national leadership is trying to restore its voter base among tribals after the general election upset, Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and state education minister Madan Dilawar has entered into a controversy for having said that the leaders of the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) should take a “DNA test” if they don’t consider themselves Hindus.
As per news reports, days after the general election results were announced in June, a war of words had broken out between Dilawar and Rajkumar Roat, the newly elected MP from the state’s Banswara Lok Sabha constituency. This was after Roat, who belongs to the tribal community, said that he believed in a different faith system from the organised religion, including Hinduism.
Reacting to it, Dilawar had said on June 23, “If the BAP leaders do not consider themselves Hindus, then we will get their DNA tested.”
The war of words had continued with Dilwar refusing to take back his words. Not just the BAP MLAs but the Congress legislators also opposed the minister’s comment during the ongoing budget session of the assembly.
On July 18, Dilawar apologised for his statement made against the tribal leaders. “They (tribals) are the best part of Hindu society. I don’t believe in speaking negatively about them. So, if the Opposition or any tribal brother has been hurt by my speech, or my words, then I express regret,” he said.
Later speaking to reporters, Roat commented, ‘Dilawar has apologised not from his heart but out of compulsion. Unlike earlier, the tribal community will not accept if anything is commented against it. He should resign from the post.”
Roat had won the Banswara parliamentary seat by defeating the BJP candidate Mahendrajeetsingh Malviya. The ruling party had met a crushing defeat in Banswara in spite of prime minister Narendra Modi delivering one of the most communally divisive speeches of the general elections.