“I want the officials to understand, not a single meat shop should be visible in Loni… There is Ram Rajya [rule of Hindu god Ram] here in Loni. Have you ever seen a meat shop in Ram Rajya? Just consume milk and ghee, and if you don’t have a cow I will send you one,” said Nand Kishor Gurjar the re-elected MLA of Loni. He has decided to target those who sell meat, which is not banned in the region. Many of these shops are owned by Muslims, though the customer base is of mixed religions as is the norm.
‘अधिकारी समझ लें, एक भी मांस की दुकान इलाके में नहीं दिखाई देनी चाहिए क्योंकि यहाँ रामराज्य है’ : #BJP विधायक @nkgurjar4bjp@BJP4UP | #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/hqerLeZKl8
— IBC24 News (@IBC24News) March 12, 2022
He is now repeating with greater power what he has done all along, and the party’s return to power in the Uttar Pradesh assembly has given the Loni MLA more reason to continue his threats, both veiled and open, first to Muslims, and now to officials. As soon as he won, he had repeated his anti-Muslim slogan an said “neither Ali nor Baahubali, Bajrangbali has come in Loni”. According to Gurjar, his win is the “victory of the godlike devout people of Loni” which he probably means the Hindus who voted for him.
‘अधिकारी समझ लें, एक भी मांस की दुकान इलाके में नहीं दिखाई देनी चाहिए क्योंकि यहाँ रामराज्य है’ : #BJP विधायक @nkgurjar4bjp@BJP4UP | #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/hqerLeZKl8
— IBC24 News (@IBC24News) March 12, 2022
Now in continuation of his electoral victory, the BJP MLA from Ghaziabad’s Loni has targeted the entire meat industry of the area, even though his camp have often claimed he is only targeting illegal slaughter houses in the area.
On the ground Nand Kishor Gurjar, is well known along the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. He is often filmed on video walking up and down the township, verbally abusing Muslims, forcing them to down the shutters of their shops if the product sold was chicken or goat meat.
Even during the election campaign, he got into some hot water with the Election Commission of India for saying, “Na Ali, Na Bahubali, Loni mei sirf Bajrang Bali” (Translation: No Ali, No Bahubali, Only Bajrang Bali in Loni), while addressing his supporters in the run up to the Assembly elections. A slogan he has revived again.
Previously too, Gurjar has been accused by the farmers who were protesting at the Ghazipur-Delhi border of trying to create communal unrest during the peaceful protest in January 2021. But Gurjar did not let all those allegations stop him from adding to his hate portfolio. His focus was purportedly on the upcoming Assembly elections, and his hate tactics kept him in the limelight. Gurjar was once again given the party ticket to contest elections from his safe seat and won.
Related:
Uttar Pradesh: Why were communal slogans raised in Ghaziabad?
Meet Nand Kishor Gurjar, a BJP MLA who thrives on Hate Speech
Ghaziabad: BJP MLA forcibly closes meat shops
Hindu groups in Gurugram forcibly shut meat shops for Navratri; BJP MLA in Ghaziabad does the same