Three weeks after hitting out at the promulgation of ordinance against Love Jehad by Uttar Pradesh and other BJP state governments the Janata Dal-United came out openly in favour of ‘Tandav’, a web-series.
In a statement the party’s national spokesman K C Tyagi said that there is nothing unusual or insulting in the web-series as it is being made out. The party also opposed any action against the web-series makers.
He said that there are dozens of films, with Amitabh Bachchan as the hero, where Shiv was dared ‘lalkarma’. What about a number of ‘ghazals’ (a type of poem) of Mirza Ghalib where the poet is seen complaining with God. Ghalib is a famous Urdu poet of the 19th century.
Earlier, the BJP MLA of Maharashtra, Ram Kadam, first lodged an FIR in Ghatkopar police station and then in the Cyber police station in Mumbai. In Lucknow a police sub-inspector of Hazratganj lodged an FIR against all those involved in the making of the web-series in his own police station on Jan 17.
The BJP MP Manoj Kotak had written to the information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar, seeking a ban on ‘Tandav’.
Though there are several film personalities who have come out in support of the web-series it is the stand taken by Janata Dal-United which has come as a surprise as it is the alliance partner of the BJP in Bihar.
Political observers are of the view that it is after the poaching of six out of seven Janata Dal-United MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh by the ruling BJP on Dec 25 last that the party has started hardening its stand towards the saffron party.
Till then the Janata Dal-United was either keeping itself away from criticism of the controversial stand of the BJP or would support it.
