By RAVI SHANKER KAPOOR
Three Episodes, One Strategy: How the BJP Is Responding to Its Biggest Controversies
New Delhi, June 28, 2026 — The saffron establishment seems to have decided to brazen out the controversies that have damaged the Narendra Modi government’s reputation and upset many people, including supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A message, an action and a non-action underline this increasingly unapologetic approach.
Let’s begin with the message.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on his birthday. In a post on X, he wrote: “Birthday wishes to Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Ji. He is making commendable efforts towards the implementation of the National Education Policy, which seeks to make India a hub for knowledge, learning and innovation. Praying for his long and healthy life.”
A Prime Minister wishing a senior minister on his birthday is routine. What stands out, however, is Modi’s praise of Pradhan for “making commendable efforts towards the implementation of the National Education Policy.”
This is the same minister who introduced the controversial UGC Equity Regulations and presides over an education system that has repeatedly failed in conducting the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). It is also the minister who famously claimed that the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer meet at Ujjain. What we know now, critics would argue, is that Ujjain has become the place where corruption meets sanctimony.
Then comes the action.
An FIR has been registered against eight persons in connection with the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The complaint was filed by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust itself, whose own role has come under public scrutiny.
As many had anticipated, the accused are all low-level workers, including Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Tinnu Yadav and Manish Yadav.
The media and social media have been rife with reports about the alleged proximity of these men to key Trust functionaries such as general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra. Yet none of the senior functionaries has faced any legal action. In that sense, even the apparent action in the donation case amounts to a form of non-action. Rai and Anil Mishra have resigned from the Trust, while they’re still not facing police action over the donation row.
Finally, there is the non-action.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav exemplifies it. Reports have alleged that members of his extended family acquired 137 acres of land in Ujjain after he assumed office as Chief Minister. Yet, instead of demanding answers, the BJP’s IT Cell has come out in his defence.
Conflict of interest? Apparently, that question no longer merits an answer.
As I wrote earlier, the BJP’s shamelessness and impudence continue unabated. The difference now is that this posture appears to carry the approval of the highest levels of the government.
(This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author’s own.)
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