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Viewers Bihar goes to the polls later this year . In 2020 the sudden death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput had rocked the nation . And SSR as he was fondly called had his roots in Bihar . And been a Rajput from the community the vote mattered a lot for the poltical parties and his tragic death was unfortunately appropriated .
Suddenly SSR became a toast of the political parties, leaders who many remember his debut film suddenly discovered the genius in him and mourned how young talent was taken away .
In his column in The Caravan – How the BJP is courting the Rajput vote in Bihar ( Tushar Dhara October 26, 2020) writes, The BJP has also aggressively been at the forefront of an online and offline campaign that claims to seek “justice” for Sushant Singh Rajput, a Hindi-film actor from Bihar, who died by suicide in June. The party printed 30,000 posters and an equal number of masks with a photo of the actor and the message “Na bhoole hain, na bhoolne denge”—We haven’t forgotten, nor will we let anyone forget. A common thread in all these three cases is the attempt by the Hindu-nationalist party to portray itself as a defender of Rajputs and their pride.
“Rajputs are an influential caste in Bihar and the BJP wants to consolidate its hold over the community,” a Bihar-based Rajput politician told me on condition of anonymity. “Harivansh is from the Rajput community, and so are Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Sushant Singh Rajput.” He added, “Bihari Rajputs are a community for whom pride matters a lot. Whether it is projecting Sushant as a son of the soil, or the shabby treatment of Harivansh, the BJP is projecting itself as the upholder of Rajput pride.”
This was in 2020 , now come fast forward , in 2025. The SSR case is once again back . As a Mumbai High Court has admitted a petition seeking interrogation Of Aaditya Thackeray in connection with the death of SSR former secretary Disha Salian. One channel which had maximum TRP with the SSR case is back in the business . Conveniently ignoring other issue – ( the brutal abduction and murder of sarpanch from Beed Santosh Deshmukh. Following the uproar – Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accepted Munde’s resignation, who was the state cabinet minister of food, civil supplies and consumer protection. Dhananjay Munde tendered his resignation after his close aide, Walmik Karad, was accused of masterminding the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in December last year.
So the justice for SSR is back viewers and it will be mark my word be played till the Bihar polls are announced. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is correct we must have developed India by 2047. No doubt on that but that can be achieved only when address pressing issues at home first – normalcy in Manipur, statehood promise in Jammu And Kashmir . Yes J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is right bring back Pok from Pakistan and also the part of J&K occupied by China. Unfortunately what we are seeing / debating on prime time in our news channels viewers is about Aurangzeb and his grave . A Mughal ruler who ruled 300 years back. Clearly our priorities have taken different line – Viksit Bharat is meant to look ahead not back.
