On Wednesday (10th April), Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav furnished a bizarre explanation on his fish-eating video that he shared from his X handle on 9th April. He said that though the video was posted on the first day of Navratri, it was shot on 8th April and it was mentioned in his post. He said that by posting the fish-eating video during Navratri, he was checking the IQ of the common BJP workers, leaders, and supporters. Notably, he was seen having fish in this video.
Navratri started on 9th April. 9 goddesses are worshipped in this festival celebrated for 9 days. Devotees keep fast during this time and consume a vegetarian diet. Many netizens criticised the former deputy chief minister of Bihar for trying to incite Hindus. Tejashwi Yadav tried to defend himself, saying his post mentioned that the video was from 8th April, a day before Navratri began.
He said, “While making that video, Mukesh Sahni told me that people will get offended. And indeed some people got offended. I have mentioned the date in the tweet itself. The video is shot on 8th April and it is mentioned in the tweet. I was checking the IQ (intelligence quotient) of the BJP leaders and their blind supporters. And I emerged to be right in this. They never show this fierce attitude while talking on the issues like unemployment, education, health, and poverty – the issues that actually matter. But when it came to religion, everyone stepped in. Their leaders do not read. They do not understand anything. They are sheer ignorant people. They make statements out of that. Those who are raising the questions and making the statements, should have at least read the tweet. Doesn’t it clearly mention the date? It is mentioned there in the very first line. It was just a test in which BJP and its people have miserably failed.”
In a video shared on X on Tuesday (9th April), Tejashwi Yadav was seen dining on fish alongside Mukesh Sahni, the chief of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), aboard a helicopter. In the video, Yadav mentioned that amidst his campaign schedule, he typically only has 10-15 minutes to spare for meals. The two leaders had fish and rotis in the helicopter. He posted on X, “Food in helicopter amidst the hustle and bustle of election! Date- 08/04/2024.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party criticised him for this gesture right on the first day of the Hindu New Year and the Chaitra Navratri festival when Hindus are fasting. BJP leader and union minister Giriraj Singh called Tejashwi Yadav a seasonal sanatani. He said, “Tejashwi Yadav is a ‘Seasonal Sanatani’, many people be it Rohingyas or Bangladeshi infiltrators came here when his father (Lalu Yadav) was in power. They do politics of appeasement wearing the mask of Sanatan.”
He added, “Lalu Yadav’s party is a private limited company. It is their company and to whom they want to give the shares become shareholders. In Bihar, be it infiltrators or Rohingyas, a large number of them have their names on the voter list. I demand a mechanism that denies them the voting rights.”
Bihar’s deputy chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Sinha said, “A few people show themselves as a son of Sanatan but can’t accept the values of Sanatan. I have no objection to food habits, but what you want to show by posting a video of eating fish in Navratri, is the politics of appeasement. One should feel proud of one’s religion, values, nation and society but demeaning them isn’t good. Secularism doesn’t mean insulting your own religion. PM Modi has clearly said ‘ab tushtikaran ki nahi, santushtikaran ki rajneeti hogi’.”
Mukesh Sahni, formerly associated with the NDA, recently reunited with the opposition alliance in Bihar last month. Under Sahni’s leadership, the VIP will nominate candidates to contest in the Gopalganj, Motihari, and Jhanjharpur constituencies.