The wrong company

BJP president Amit Shah is keeping the wrong company. It is surprising that Mr Shah has permitted himself to share the stage with D.P. Yadav, a notorious UP don who had hopped from his earlier perch in the Samajwadi Party to the BJP, where he faced ejection on account of popular pressure and the distinct feeling in the saffron party that associating with the likes of Mr Yadav brought nothing but disgrace.

Mr Shah apparently kept the don by his side while campaigning in Haryana for the upcoming Assembly election, and the latter was seen on the dais with him once. Local BJP functionaries have unconvincingly sought to explain it all away.

Mr Yadav’s unsavoury antecedents are a given. It is Mr Shah’s decision to associate with such people that needs to be placed under scrutiny. In the past, the UP BJP had imported into its fold B.P.

Kushwaha, a minister who had gained notoriety for massive corruption. The party was after his vote-bank and got rid of him after the Assembly election. So, is Mr Shah seeking to exploit Mr Yadav in the same cynical way? Such tactics for the sake of sectarian appeal should be abhorrent in a democratic system. Regrettably, it transpires that the BJP is now planning to felicitate the accused in the recent Moradabad riots in UP, as it had done earlier for its local leaders involved in the Muzaffarnagar riots to attract Hindu votes.