New Delhi: There was a time when he welcomed hajjis and hosted interfaith conferences at his constituency in Datia. At the moment, together with his signature pink tilak on his brow, Narottam Mishra has cultivated the picture of a chieftain faithfully guarding the tenets of Hindutva.
Such is his zeal for the trigger that the Madhya Pradesh residence minister was the primary — beating even the Bajrang Dal — to warn the hapless maker of Pathaan to vary Deepika Padukone’s costume within the movie, or else face a ban within the state.
“Costumes used within the track (‘Besharam Rang’) are objectionable. It’s clear that this track has been filmed with a corrupt mentality. Anyway, within the JNU case, Deepika Padukone has been a supporter of the Tukde Tukde Gang,” the BJP minister stated, earlier than he issued the warning to the filmmaker.
Movie star designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, producer-director Prakash Jha, FMCG main Dabur and now Shah Rukh Khan — all have confronted the ire of the 62-year-old chief.
The minister has additionally stated that the federal government plans to border stringent guidelines whereby police verification might be necessary forward of a wedding for checking instances of “love jihad” in Madhya Pradesh.
It was again in 2008 that the BJP chief first got here to the discover of the individuals, particularly these outdoors his residence state, when reviews with similar headline — ‘toh is liyae sabse alag han Narottam (For this reason Narottam is totally different from the others) — had been revealed in a number of dailies.
Later, the Election Fee discovered that it was a paid article and that he had given incorrect details about his ballot bills. The EC barred Mishra from contesting the state meeting election that 12 months, however he received a keep from the MP Excessive Court docket and the celebration by no means took motion in opposition to him.
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The transformation of Mishra
Not too way back — the years from 2008 to 2018 — the circumstances had been totally different, with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself having fun with a constructive picture among the many Muslims in Madhya Pradesh.
It was throughout this era — throughout Chouhan’s second and third tenures — that Mishra used to welcome Muslims coming back from the Hajj. Datia noticed a number of interfaith conferences throughout 2016-17.
“Mishra’s avatar as a protector of Hindu tradition is a brand new phenomenon. In his early years, he by no means took such a powerful line…Kailash Vijayvargiya used to do it when he was quantity two within the Shivraj cupboard. After the change of guard in Delhi, Mishra realised that the entire ecosystem had modified with PM Modi’s Hindu Hriday Samrat picture awakening a brand new India and Yogi (UP CM Yogi Adtiyanath) changing into one other phenomenon,” a minister instructed ThePrint.
“He’s a pandit. He realised his benefit and because the residence minister, he began to mould his picture as a hardliner politician who is just not smooth on love jihad, conversion or different points which are central to the RSS and present-day BJP politics.”
A number of BJP leaders from MP stated it is a well-crafted technique by Mishra to please the central management and set up himself as a polarising determine.
This, they asserted, was as a result of Mishra is aware of he has no caste base in his favour because the BJP is more and more dominated by OBCs. “Being a Brahmin didn’t match with the celebration’s social outreach however his polarising picture will at all times give him a bonus,” certainly one of them stated.
After starting his political profession within the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bharatiya Jana Yuva Morcha (BJYM), he went on to grow to be a minister for the primary time in 2005 within the Babulal Gaur authorities.
His rise has been regular since then though he was initially low within the pecking order of the BJP management, which comprised the likes of Jayant Malaiya, Gauri Shankar Shejwar, Kailash Vijayvargiya, and Gopal Bhargava.
“Quickly after he was allotted the knowledge and PR division together with parliamentary affairs in 2013, Mishra established good ties with journalists and media house owners by releasing authorities adverts. This relationship stood him in good stead. When (Amit) Shah visited in 2017, he had breakfast at Narottam’s residence with editors of regional newspapers. This created a storm in Madhya Pradesh politics,” stated the minister talked about above.
Senior BJP chief Jayant Malaya, who was within the Shivraj cupboard from 2013 to 2018, stated Mishra was “good in managing affairs, and a superb supervisor with organisational capabilities”.
Bhopal-based political analyst Girija Shanker, too, acknowledged that Mishra cultivated a superb relationship with house owners of media homes.
“It additionally helped Shivraj in disaster administration and when the Centre pushed its agenda. However now his picture as a saviour of the tradition resonates with the road of the BJP and the RSS. He needs to determine himself as a polarising determine like different politicians attempting to emulate the Yogi mannequin in different states,” Shanker instructed ThePrint.
One other BJP functionary, who is aware of Mishra from his nascent years in politics, described how the late Arun Jaitley helped the Datia MLA to carve out an area within the politics of Madhya Pradesh.
“When Jaitley was an influential determine within the BJP, those that didn’t get an viewers with (L.Okay.) Advani used to satisfy Jaitley to current their case. Narottam was a daily customer to Jaitley’s workplace, ready for hours to get his recommendation for 5 minutes. As Shivraj (Chouhan) was Jaitley’s pal, he (Mishra) used to hunt Jaitley’s blessing for his political aspirations.”
Other than Jaitley, Union residence minister Amit Shah is claimed to have been a significant pressure in Mishra’s progress. Their ties date again to 2010, when Shah was going by way of some tough occasions, stated a BJP district chief from Datia.
“Pitambara Shakti Peeth is a vital peeth (pilgrimage web site) in Datia the place politicians from Indira Gandhi to Vasundhara Raje and Rajnath Singh visited throughout their crises. When Shah was dealing with his unhealthy days in 2010 when he was ordered to remain out of Gujarat, he came over the peeth. Mishra organised the go to… That relationship continued through the years and when Shah got here to Delhi, he started to advertise Mishra. The minister additionally established good ties with others, too, by organising such visits in Datia,” the BJP district chief stated.
The celebs aligned favourably for Mishra after Amit Shah took over from Rajnath Singh because the BJP nationwide president on 9 July, 2014.
Vijayvargiya and Mishra had been amongst these from Madhya Pradesh who caught Shah’s eye, following which the previous was made a BJP normal secretary and the latter cultivated as quantity two within the Shivraj cupboard.
Over time, Mishra was given numerous key obligations, crucial being as co-in-charge of UP for the 2019 Lok Sabha election with senior chief Govardhan Jhadpia.
Given his Brahmin background, Mishra was deputed to handle ballot preparations in Kanpur, the place the neighborhood wields appreciable affect.
Kanpur saved the BJP brass nervous because the celebration unceremoniously dropped veteran chief Murli Manohar Joshi and changed him with UP minister Satyadev Pachauri. To everybody’s shock, Pachauri comfortably gained from the seat.
Mishra’s shares additional rose within the BJP ranks when Shah deputed him for ‘Operation Kamal’ to topple the Kamal Nath-led Congress authorities in 2020. Along with Vijayvargiya, Mishra easily ensured the defection of twenty-two Congress MLAs to make manner for a BJP authorities within the state.
“Narottam camped in Delhi for 3 days because the BJP excessive command was considering the difficulty of management in MP. He was hopeful that the BJP was exploring an choice past Shivraj. However the PM thought in any other case, understanding solely Shivraj has a pan-state attraction that would guarantee victory within the bypolls, which might be essential for survival of the brand new authorities,” a former MP minister stated, including that Mishra is a contender to grow to be CM if the celebration considers his credentials as a polarising determine.
Mishra’s reputation in media circles was well-summed up by a Bhopal-based tv journalist. “He’s simply accessible, His 10 am bulletin offers sufficient fodder to journalists. That retains him within the information at all times,” the journalist stated.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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