A bespectacled young advocate who has set up a “patriotism” test for Indians and said those who would not side with Narendra Modi in the elections would be “anti-India” has been named the BJP’s candidate for Bangalore South, shocking the widow of the sitting MP and party workers.
“Chowkidar” Tejasvi Surya, 28, a true-blue south Bangalore boy and general secretary of BJP youth wing Yuva Morcha, got a taste of the discontent with his candidature when he visited the house of Tejaswini, the wife of Union minister Ananth Kumar who passed away in November, with party workers shouting slogans against him.
It had been widely expected that Tejaswini, a BJP member, would be fielded by the party from Bangalore South.
“It is shocking to me and the BJP workers,” she told reporters in a brief interaction on Tuesday after Surya was nominated. “Please don’t ask any more questions. We have to work together for Modi if we want to contribute to our country,” a visibly unhappy Tejaswini added.
Hours later when Surya made a courtesy visit to her house, BJP workers protested and raised slogans against him.
Since Ananth Kumar had represented Bangalore South since 1996, Karnataka BJP leaders wanted Tejaswini to contest the seat after his passing. Other than a sympathy wave, Bangalore South is a BJP stronghold. In 2014, Kumar beat Congress candidate and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani by over 2.28 lakh votes.
Managing trustee of Adamya Chetana, a charity that serves free mid-day meals to more than 2.5 lakh schoolchildren, Tejaswini is hugely popular. But the BJP settled for youth.
Surya tried to pacify the anger among BJP workers, crediting Kumar with his rise in the party. After filing his nomination papers, Surya told reporters: “He had been my mentor from my high school days. He gave a lot of opportunities to grow in the party. I remember bugging him to allow me to work for a rally addressed by L.K. Advani when I was in college.”
Surya described Tejaswini as “a mother figure” and claimed she was happy with his nomination.
Days earlier, Surya had told a gathering, a video of which has since gone viral on social media, that the April-May Lok Sabha polls was “a test of a common Indian’s patriotism”.
“This may sound outrageous. The Left liberals on Twitter may not like me saying this. But this election is a test of a common Indian’s patriotism, and if you are with Modi you are with India, if you are not with Modi you are anti-India. That’s it,” Surya said, mouthing what appeared to be his version of former US President George Bush’s “with us or against us” statement.
In a longer version of the speech which he uploaded on Twitter on March 21, Surya had said that a “consortium of private political parties and political families” who run states as “private jagirs” had come together to take on Modi.
A high court lawyer, Surya is part of the BJP’s national social media campaign team.
His nomination for Bangalore South appeared to have surprised him too. “OMG OMG !!! I can’t believe this,” the young candidate tweeted in the small hours of Tuesday.