Giriraj Singh demands ban on use of green flags

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Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Tuesday said the Election Commission should ban the use of green flags, often associated with political and religious bodies associated with Muslims, alleging that they spread hate and create a perception of being used in Pakistan.

Known for his hardline Hindutva views that have often triggered controversies, Singh said his fight from this parliamentary constituency is against a "gang" working for "breaking up" India, and asserted that he represents the agenda of cultural nationalism and development.

In an interview to PTI, the saffron party leader asserted the BJP-led NDA would improve its 2014 tally of 31 seats in Bihar (which has total 40 Lok Sabha seats) and it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself who is the alliance candidate on every seat and all contesting leaders "are his symbols".

Singh is locked in a triangular contest with RJD's Tanveer Hasan and young CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar. He had won with a margin of over 1.4 lakh votes from Bihar's Nawada Lok Sabha constituency in 2014, but has been shifted to Begusarai this time.

He had publicly expressed his anguish over the shift but was placated by the central leadership with party president Amit Shah himself reaching out to him.

The contest here has become one of the most talked about ones in this general election due to Singh being seen as a face of the BJP's unyielding Hindutva philosophy and Kumar, a former JNU student union leader, presenting himself as a fiery challenger to the saffron ideology. The seat goes to the poll on April 29.

Singh said "supporters of separatism and terrorism" have assembled in the constituency -- an apparent attack on Kumar, who has been accused by the BJP of backing student protesters in the JNU who had allegedly raised anti-Indian slogans. Kumar has rejected the allegations.

Singh claimed opposition parties are trying to polarise voters on communal lines, as he referred to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's recent suggestion to Muslims at an election rally in Bihar to vote unitedly to oust Modi from power. The Election Commission on Monday banned Sidhu from campaigning for 72 hours.

Calling Sidhu a close associate of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Singh claimed that Gandhi chose to contest from Wayanad seat in Kerala as part of a "well-planned" strategy to divide India on religious lines as was the case during the pre-independence era leading to the creation of Pakistan.

"Did you see the procession in Wayanad when Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers? It seemed he was going to contest from Rawalpindi in Pakistan. The flags seen there bore so much resemblance with Pakistan flags. They spread hate, not love," he said and demanded that the Election Commission should ban them.

Wayanad has a sizeable Muslim population and the Indian Union Muslim League, a Congress ally in Kerala, has a strong presence in the region. The IUML's flag is of green colour.

"What does that flag show? Journalists like you ask if I think it is a Pakistani flag. It is not about this. The perception was, when those flags were seen, that this nomination is happening in Rawalpindi," Singh said.

When told that Muslims have been using green flags long before Pakistan came into being in 1947, Singh shot back, saying, "That is why. To me this is reflective of Pakistan."