Jaipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday expelled party spokesperson Krishna Kumar Janu for six years following controversial remarks he made criticising the party’s treatment of late former Governor Satya Pal Malik and former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
While the official reason cited for his expulsion was his objection to the appointment of Harshini Kulhari as BJP’s Jhunjhunu district president in June, party leaders acknowledged that a recent viral video of Janu’s statements had intensified the matter. In an expulsion order issued by Onkar Singh Lakhawat, chairperson of the BJP’s state disciplinary committee, the party said Janu had failed to satisfactorily respond to a show-cause notice served on June 20.
In the viral video, Janu is seen sharply criticising BJP’s Jat leaders for what he described as their silence over the “humiliating” treatment of Malik during his final rites and the unceremonious exit of Dhankhar. He expressed deep hurt over the lack of a state funeral for Malik, a former BJP national vice president and Constitutional post holder, calling it a display of “tiraskar” (disdain) by the government.
Janu questioned Jat MPs, MLAs, and party office-bearers, asking how they could believe that similar treatment would not be meted out to them. “The manner in which the disdain was exemplified, it cannot be justified,” he said.
He accused the current BJP leadership of sidelining mass leaders with grassroots popularity, citing veterans like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Praveen Togadia, Sanjay Joshi, Vasundhara Raje, and turning former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan into “a puppet.” Janu said the party was heading in the wrong direction and questioned why the rank and file remained silent.
Drawing on the community’s history of speaking against inconsistencies in the Sanatan tradition, and recalling figures like Guru Nanak Dev, Jambhoji Maharaj, and Dayanand Saraswati, he urged Jat leaders within the BJP to break their silence. “The humiliation witnessed during Malik’s last rites — no state funeral for someone who held a Constitutional post — shows prejudice and fear in the government. One who compromises his principles out of fear is not a Jat,” he said.
Janu also questioned Dhankhar’s quiet exit from the Vice President’s office, noting the absence of a farewell speech or party. “It is the Jat’s sanskar (culture) to clash with an arrogant government,” he said, urging Jats in the BJP to stand up against perceived wrongs.