Bihar: BJP spat with Congress-RJD over heckling of singer's rendition of 'Raghupati Raghav'

The BJP's Bihar unit on Thursday sparred with the Opposition RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal)-Congress combine over the heckling of a woman artiste singing the popular bhajan Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.

The Opposition parties alleged that Wednesday's incident at a function held on the occasion of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth anniversary was reflective of "misogyny" and "hatred for Mahatma Gandhi" harboured by the BJP.

The saffron party hit back, claiming that it suspected that "RJD workers" had entered the auditorium with the intent to cause disruption.

In a purported video of the incident which has gone viral on social media, the singer can be heard offering an apology to the unruly audience, which appeared to become agitated when she sang the stanza containing the line 'Ishwar Allah tero naam'.

While the bhajan is several centuries old, the aforesaid stanza is believed to have been an improvisation at Mahatma Gandhi's instance, in keeping with his push for unity among Hindus and Muslims.

In the video, the regret expressed by the singer seems to have little effect on the crowds, and she is made to hand over the microphone to senior BJP leader and former Union minister and current minister of state at the Centre Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who roars 'jai Shri Ram' with fists raised in the air.

Sharing the video on its X handle, the Congress tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wrote in Hindi, "Look at the hatred for Gandhi harboured by leaders of your party by whom you are idolised."

The Opposition party added, "The incident is an example of the hatred the BJP-RSS combine has for Gandhi. They believe in the ideology of (Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram) Godse."

Similar sentiments were expressed by RJD president and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who wrote on the micro-blogging site that the "misogynist" BJP was irked by the phrase 'Sita Ram'. He also underscored that the BJP was an "ally of Nitish Kumar", his archrival and current chief minister of Bihar, who heads the JD(U).

Meanwhile, the BJP's state unit hit back with a statement alleging, "RJD president Lalu Prasad's disgusting attempt to politicise the issue proves that workers of that party had been sent to the venue of yesterday's function so that a disruption could be caused, providing the opposition party with some political mileage.

"The RJD president had called for 'bhura baal saaf karo' (an anti-upper caste slogan of the 1990s, ascribed to Prasad who denies ever having coined it). The party is again trying to create social divisions for its own gain."