For days, reports had been circulating about the BJP grappling with allegations of infighting and sabotage following the general election results.

This week, tensions between two party hawks from western Uttar Pradesh — alleged co-instigators of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots — burst forth in public with spectacular charges of corruption and betrayal against each other.

Sanjeev Balyan, former Union minister of state for agriculture and food processing, alleged that “a Jaichandra within the BJP” was behind his defeat from the Muzaffarnagar seat, which he had won in 2014 and 2019. He didn’t name anyone.

Sangeet Som, former MLA from Sardhana in Meerut, which neighbours Muzaffarnagar, came forward on Wednesday and again on Thursday to declare it was not he but Balyan’s “own behaviour with people” that caused his defeat.

Jaichandra was the king who, according to the epic Prithviraj Raso, credited to Chand Bardai, helped Afghan ruler Muhammad Ghori defeat Prithviraj Chauhan in the late 12th century. His name has since been synonymous with “traitor”.

Balyan and Som, known for hate speeches against Muslims, were both charged with instigating the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots that killed over 50 people and displaced
50,000 families while helping create a political climate that helped the BJP win the 2014 general election.

“It’s not in my blood to play Jaichandra. It wasn’t me who assembled wealth in the last five years through kickbacks received from development projects in the area,” Som told reporters on Thursday. He did not name anyone.

However, at a news conference Som held the day before, a media statement written on his letterhead and distributed among journalists read: “Substandard fertilisers from a particular manufacturer were supplied in the market even though farmers and the agriculture department had rejected them. Corruption also happened in pond-digging in the area under Balyan.”

Som later claimed ignorance about the media statement.

Balyan had on Monday said: “The BJP should conduct an inquiry against the Jaichandra who worked openly for the Samajwadi Party to defeat me.”

Balyan lost to Harendra Singh Malik by about 24,000 votes.

The media release distributed at Som’s news conference also alleged that Balyan had bought over 200 acres of land illegally and that he had sheltered killers.

On Wednesday, Som said: “Balyan lost because he used to misbehave with people. He shouldn’t blame me or anyone else for his own failures.”

Asked about the dispute, a senior BJP leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “We have received complaints from Amethi, Kushinagar, Agra, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar and many other parliamentary constituencies that our MPs used to misbehave with people. We still won some of the seats and lost some.”

He added: “We are conducting an inquiry to correct ourselves and prepare for future elections. It’s natural that some party leaders would blame each other for their defeat. We don’t want to get into a dispute between two individuals.”