Chautala, the BJP candidate from Hisar, has now been given a ‘deadline’ of 4 April to apologise for making such a statement or face consequences. Brahmins in Haryana comprise 5 to 6 percent of the state’s population, according to various estimates.
An Independent MLA from Rania constituency in Sirsa, Chautala is a Minister for Power and Jails in Nayab Singh Saini’s Haryana cabinet. His candidature from Hisar was announced on 25 April when he had joined the BJP.
Chautala, the brother of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, is now facing the flak from the District Brahmin Sabha that held a meeting Sunday.
In a video clip, Chautala purportedly says in Hindi that the caste system was unnecessarily handed over by the Brahmins to the society due to which riots and scuffle keep happening. ThePrint could not independently verify the veracity of the video.
“The BJP candidate has tried to spread the poison of the caste system through his comments. The Brahmin community has always worked towards uniting society by bringing people irrespective of their castes and creeds together. But Ranjit Chautala’s comments have enraged the community,” Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, President of the Zila Brahmin Sabha, Hisar, told The Print Sunday.
“The Brahmin community condemns his comments and unless he publicly apologises, we will keep opposing Chautala at political and social levels.”
At a meeting Sunday in Hisar, the Sabha has decided that community leaders from across the state will assemble in Hisar on 4 April to take a “big” decision against the BJP candidate if he does not apologise for his comments.
Contacted by ThePrint, Chautala explained that it was a casual conversation on what is described in the history of the caste system in the country and added that he had no intention of hurting anyone’s sentiments.
He said he had already clarified that if his comments hurt the sentiments of any community, he would take back his words.
“I have deep respect for the Brahmin community. No new project, whether social, political, or at the family level is complete in my family unless we call a Brahmin for the usual rituals,” Chautala added.Earlier, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala had stirred a controversy with his comments on the Rajput community. Rupala, the BJP ticket from Rajkot in Gujarat, had on 22 March said that Kshatriya rulers from princely states had yielded to foreign rulers.Rupala has since apologised for his comments, but the members of Rajput community are demanding that he be replaced by the BJP.
