Nupur Sharma’s political career was arguably a whimper but it was certainly paused with a bang. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson was suspended on Sunday for making denigrating remarks against Prophet Muhammad on Times Now in May. Her colleague Naveen Jindal was expelled for similar antics. The BJP’s decision was swift and animated by the outrage in the Arab world against Nupur’s remarks, conflated as views of the party in power. Playing it safe, the Narendra Modi government dismissed its own party spokesperson’s remarks as “views of fringe elements”.
Strong words, but rather untenable. Are Nupur and Naveen really fringe? As spokespersons, they were tasked with transmitting the party line on pressing matters to the public. Nupur was even fielded against Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the 2015 Delhi election. Naveen too held an influential position in the party as its media head in Delhi.
