Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pradeep Kumar Singh
The remarks by Pradeep Kumar Singh, a BJP MP from Araria in Bihar, have caused a political uproar. During the Bharat Swabhiman Yatra, Pradeep Kumar Singh said that if you want to live in Araria, you have to become a Hindu. After this statement, Pradeep Kumar Singh became the target of attacks by the opposition. Opposition parties burned his effigy and raised slogans against him.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that we and our party will not remain silent if someone makes remarks against Muslims. We will break it down brick by brick. Tejashwi Yadav said today should not talk about hatred but issues. But the BJP wants to foment unrest in Bihar. Meanwhile, Congress district president Zakir Hussain Khan said Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru drove away the British. He protected the Constitution. But the BJP is telling the community that has sacrificed the most that if you want to live in Araria, you have to become a Hindu. We may even lay down our lives for the Constitution.
What is Pradeep Singh’s full statement?
Read Pradeep Singh’s full statement once. When he addressed the people“Some people say, proudly say we are Muslims and what’s the shame in calling us Hindus,” he said. “We tell everyone that even during elections, if you want to live in Araria, you have to become a Hindu.” When you have to create a relationship between a son and a daughter, find out the caste. Find a family. Find out the breed. Find your family.
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We must also understand why Pradeep Singh made this statement. His statement had political implications. It is clear from his statement that the BJP will contest the 2025 assembly elections on the basis of Hindutva. She will fight back aggressively on this issue. In fact, Muslims dominate Araria’s politics and population. It belongs to Seemanchal district. There are 6 seats under Araria Lok Sabha seat. These seats are Narpatganj, Raniganj, Forbesganj, Araria, Jokihat and Sikti.
How many Muslims are there in Araria?
According to the 2011 census, Araria’s population was 2,811,569. The Muslim population here accounts for about 43%. Muslim voters play an important role in elections. Here, they have the power to decide the future of any candidate.
If we look at the political history of Araria, it used to be a Congress stronghold but it became weak here as the BJP grew stronger. Here, support for the Congress fell while Lalu Prasad Yadav’s party RJD rose. If we look at the election results of the last 25 years, we see that there was competition only between the BJP and the RJD.
The BJP’s account was opened here in 1998. After this, the RJD won this seat in 1999. Even in 2004, the RJD flag was hoisted here, but five years later, in the 2009 elections, the seat disappeared. The BJP is making a comeback with the strength of Pradeep Kumar Singh. But in the 2014 elections, this seat was again taken away from the BJP and captured by the Revolutionary Democratic Party.
Pradeep Kumar Singh to return in 2019
The RJD won again in the 2018 by-elections. Both times it defeated the BJP on the strength of Muslim leaders. But in the 2019 elections, all bets were off and the BJP regained the seat.
The 2024 elections in Araria are very interesting. It was a close contest between the RJD and the BJP. The RJD has been betting on a Muslim candidate to win in this election. The group gave Shahnawaz tickets. Pradeep Kumar Singh was in front of him. The BJP candidate received a total of 600,000 146 votes, while Shahnawaz got 500,000 80,000 52 votes. Pradeep Singh won by about 21,000 votes. In terms of vote share, Pradeep Singh got 47.91% of the votes while Shahnawaz got 46.31% of the votes.