Twitter is toxic. Everyone knows it. But few have contributed as much to turning it into the veritable cesspool it has become today as Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga. Which is why it was surprising to many when he was given a BJP ticket to contest the upcoming Delhi elections.
BJP released a new list of candidates on Monday midnight which included Bagga who is also one of the party’s many spokespersons. He was appointed BJP spokesperson in March 2017. On being given the ticket, Bagga announced his candidacy using a rap song and #Bagga4HariNagar
You may sample the cringe-fest here at your own risk.
A bulk of Bagga’s “fame” comes from vile and despicable social media posts that have helped him cultivate over 6 lakh followers on Twitter. He routinely targets dissenters, activists and pro-democracy voices by labelling them all as anti-national. Often, he makes outrageous claims about the morality or patriotism of people he targets. Sample this:
Muslim and Leftists students in Mumbai again Raised Slogans “Hinduo se Aazadi” but this time not in Jamia or JNU , they raised Hinduo se Aazadi Slogans at Gateway of India Mumbai. Will @MumbaiPolice @OfficeofUT take action or support this goons Silently ? pic.twitter.com/7Cq9ci8tE5
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) January 6, 2020
He has also tweeted in poor taste about actor-activist Swara Bhaskar
Your hands may be busy doing useless things. https://t.co/JN8M9bVNpH
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) November 29, 2018
Here is his recent tweet criticizing actor Deepika Padukone for attending an anti-CAA protest in Delhi:
RT if you will Boycott Movies of @deepikapadukone for her Support to #TukdeTukdeGang and Afzal Gang pic.twitter.com/LN5rpwjDmT
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) January 7, 2020
Bagga is the founder of a group that targets these so-called anti-nationals. The group is called Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena.
But, Bagga’s most notable diatribe though has been reserved for senior advocate and civil society member Prashant Bhushan. In fact, Bagga shot to fame in 2011 when he barged into the Supreme Court chambers of the senior lawyer and assaulted Bhushan for his views on Kashmir.
In fact, the following exchange transpired on Twitter soon after Bagga announced his candidacy:
From abusing Army to Demanding Referendum in Kashmir to Throwing from AAP, Prashant Bhushan has come a long way https://t.co/NWAY4KgpTe
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) January 21, 2020
Elections for 70 seats of the Legislative Assembly will be held on February 8 in Delhi. While, Bagga was believed to be keen on contesting from Tilak Nagar, he was given a ticket from Hari Nagar. Aam Aadmi Party’s Jagdeep Singh had won the constituency in 2013 and 2015. This time the AAP candidate is Rajkumar Dhillon and the UPA has fielded Surender Sethi.