Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders managed to anger families of slain soldiers by being disrespectful at a funeral. According to an Indian Express report by Amit Sharma, Union minister Satya Pal Singh, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, Meerut BJP MLA Rajendra Agarwal and head of BJP traders’ association Vinit Sharda, had to leave a soldier’s funeral barefoot, to escape an angry crowd.
At the Basi Tikari village in Meerut district, during the funeral of Army Sepoy Ajay Kumar, who was one of the four soldiers killed in an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in Pulwama, the BJP leaders were asked to remove their shoes and sandals as they tried to reach the funeral pyre of the jawan. The family members were reportedly infuriated that the BJP leaders were sitting at the funeral site with their shoes still on.
Reportedly, youths from the village raised anti-BJP slogans and hurled their footwear at the leaders. IE reported that no one from the BJP contingent was hit. Ultimately, the leaders had to rush to their cars barefoot.
“Why did you come to the village now when there are still two to three months left for the general elections?” and “Why didn’t Nitin Gadkari come when he can spare time to dedicate various projects in a programme in Meerut on Wednesday?” asked members of the crowd, reported IE.
Also read: Pulwama Soldier’s Kin Lash Out at BJP Leaders For Wearing Shoes At Funeral Site