Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 16: Even before the controversy over Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs minister Kunwar Vijay Shah’s derogatory remarks on army Colonel Sophia Qureshi subsided, the state’s deputy chief minister Jagdish Devda has sparked another row by allegedly commenting that the country’s armed forces “touch the feet of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Speaking at a civil defence volunteers’ event in Jabalpur on Friday, Mr Devda said, “Today the entire country, the country’s Army and our soldiers bow down at the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The reply he has given cannot be praised enough.” The remarks, however, have drawn immediate criticism from the Opposition Congress with leaders alleging that the BJP has a “sponsored programme” running to insult the Forces and demanding an apology from him.
“Mohan Yadav Government Minister Vijay Shah calls the brave colonel of the army the sister of terrorists, the Deputy Chief Minister says that the army bows down at the feet of Modi, and when the media questions the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he gets irritated and gives nonsensical answers,” State Congress president Jitu Patwari said.
“Instead of taking action against both the Ministers, BJP is giving them protection, from this it seems that the top leadership of BJP has started a sponsored program of insulting the Army,” he alleged, while saying that his party will hit the streets in protest.
Congress termed his purported remarks against the Army “cheap and shameful.” “The country’s army and soldiers bow at the feet of Prime Minister Modi.’ This has been said by Jagdish Devda, Deputy Chief Minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh. This statement of Jagdish Devda is very cheap and shameful,” it said.
Hitting out at Devda further, the grand old party said this was an insult to the valour and courage of the army. “When the whole country is bowing in front of the army today, at that time BJP leaders are expressing their low thinking about our brave army. BJP and Jagdish Devda should apologize. They should be removed from their posts,” it said.
The BJP, however, defenced Mr Devda and accused the Congress of “distorting” his words. M.P. BJP spokesperson Ashish Agarwal said, “Congress leaders neither respect the country nor its armed forces. Twisting words and sentiments to suit their narrative is something they are known for. Jagdish Devdaji clearly stated that the entire nation salutes the bravery of our soldiers and armed forces who carried out the strike on Pakistan. If Congress chooses to distort this for political gains, so be it. But every worker and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party stands united in saluting the courage and valour of our armed forces.”
In a video that was shared by the X handle of the Congress party alleged that Devda said, “The country’s army and soldiers bow at the feet of Prime Minister Modi.” Reacting to this, BJP leader Amit Malviya posted the video on X and said Devda was being made a deliberate target to create sensation because he belonged to the dalit community.
“The entire country bows at the feet of the army and soldiers,” Malviya wrote. “Politicising the valour and bravery of the army exposes the despicable and lowly mentality of Congress. #OperationSindoor has shaken both Pakistan and Congress to their core. Devda ji is also being targeted because he comes from the Dalit community, and Congress is unable to accept this,” he added.
The state Tribal Affairs minister Vijay Shah had sparked the controversy addressing Colonel Qureshi as the “sister of terrorists.” The video shared by Congress showed Shah saying, “Jinhone humari betiyon ke sindoor ujade the… humne unhiki behen bhej kar ke unki aisi ki taisi karwayi (Those who wiped the vermilion off our daughters’ forehead… we sent their sister to teach them a lesson).”
The BJP leader later clarified his remark after facing massive backlash. “We respect the actions taken by the Indian forces that avenged the Pahalgam terror attack in which the vermilion was wiped off the forehead of our sisters. I don’t want to say anything to those who are twisting my remarks,” he said. “She (Qureshi) is a sister who has enhanced our prestige, it should not be seen in any other context. We respect her and will continue to do so,” he added.
“In the recent speech, my wish and intention was to put her [Col. Qureshi’s] point across in a proper manner to the society, but due to my sad and disturbed mind, some wrong words came out, due to which today I am ashamed of myself and I apologize to the entire society and the community,” he said in an apology posted on social media platform X.
Mr Shah issued the apology after a long day of political backlash from across the nation, demands for his dismissal from Opposition leaders as well as from leaders of his own party including the former Chief Minister Uma Bharti, under whose tenure Mr Shah was first made a Minister.
The biggest setback for Mr Shah came from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which set a four-hour deadline for the police to register a First Information Report against him under specific Sections, resulting in a case being lodged late in the night at the Manpur police station in Indore district, where he had made the alleged inflammatory remarks on May 12.
While Mr Shah has held onto his Cabinet berth for now as he has also challenged the High Court’s order in the Supreme Court, this is not the first time that he has had to lose a ministerial position over his statements.
Months before the 2013 Assembly election, Mr Shah’s allegedly sexist remarks against the then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s wife Sadhna Singh had caused an uproar in the State, leading to Mr Shah’s resignation within days of being pulled up by the BJP leadership of the time.
However, he managed to retain his candidature from Khandwa’s Harsud (Schedule Tribe or ST) constituency in the elections held in November 2013, and was also inducted into the new Cabinet with the School Education Portfolio. A senior BJP leader recalls that Mr Shah evaded formal disciplinary action at the time.
Elected for the first time in 1990, Mr Shah has retained the Harsud seat for the consecutive eighth term, establishing himself as a prominent tribal face of the BJP in the State’s Nimar region.
First appointed a Minister in 2003, Mr Shah has gone on to serve under all BJP CMs since Ms Bharti, including Babulal Gaur, Mr Chouhan, and the sitting Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, and has held crucial portfolios, including Forest, Tourism, and Culture, among others.
Despite his growing influence in the region and within the BJP, Mr Shah has often found himself in the centre of controversies. As the School Education Minister in 2018, Mr Shah drew flak following his remarks at a Teachers Day event, allegedly insulting to the transgender community. “If you don’t clap for your teachers, you’ll have to clap your hands visiting households,” he had said.
His tenure as the School Education Minister was also marked by multiple other rows, including a directive making it mandatory for school students to answer the roll call with ‘Jai Hind.’
In 2022 Mr Shah made headlines with his personal remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, now the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, saying that his son had married at the age 25 while Mr Gandhi was still unmarried. “If a boy turns 50-55 and doesn’t get married, people ask if there is any shortcoming,” he had said, without naming the Congress leader.
Mr Shah had courted another political row the same year with his remarks on former Prime Ministers. “75 years have passed since the Independence, but [PM Narendra] Modi is the first leader who is improving the lives of the poor. Before him, all Prime Ministers were ghoda [horse], gadha [donkey] and haathi [elephant] chhaap. None of them cared for the poor,” he had said.
While his previous controversies did not cause much harm to his standing in the party and the government, Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders believe the current issue “has escalated beyond the State leadership.” “He has been in limelight for his statements throughout his career, but this time he has touched a very sensitive subject. The State leadership’s opinion does not matter much here as they will have to act as per Delhi’s directions,” a party insider said.