Former MP and BJP motormouth Sanjeev Balyan, key accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots that facilitated Narendra Modi’s rise to power the following year, has indirectly challenged his party barely a year before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Balyan, 53, the BJP’s most prominent Hindutva and Jat leader in western Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday declared he would “never forget the insult” inflicted on him and the politically influential Jat community. He didn’t name anyone but no one was in any doubt that his target was his own party and its government.
A frustrated Balyan — who blames his defeat from his Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat in 2024 to sabotage by Sangeet Som, the other face of the 2013 riots in popular perception — can spell danger for the BJP in its western Uttar Pradesh citadel.
Balyan, a former Union minister, issued his threats from a dais in Meerut district that he shared with two Opposition Jat leaders — Punjab’s AAP chief minister Bhagwant Mann and BJP defector Hanuman Beniwal. Mann, in his speech, mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Balyan’s presence.
The event — the International Jat Parliament — involved the unveiling of a statue of Suraj Mal, the 18th-century Jat ruler of Bharatpur in Rajasthan whose kingdom included parts of western Uttar Pradesh.
“I can’t forget the way I was insulted during the election (2024) and later,” Balyan told his audience at the Hitkari Kisan Inter College in Sakoti Tanda village, without citing specifics.
“Some people created hurdles in our way to the meeting. We all know the people doing this to insult our community. We have to remember this and act when the time comes.”
The police had prevented Mann’s helicopter from landing at the venue, and he had to be driven there from 10km away. Besides, the local administration allegedly delayed the permission for the meeting.
“You all know on whose order these things are happening against us. We will return the insult with interest…. The Jat community will teach them a lesson soon,” Balyan said.
Hindutva rivalry
Balyan and Som — two prominent accused in the 2013 riots case, charged with delivering hate speeches leading to the violence — have fallen out in recent years.
According to the grapevine, Som has the support of his fellow Rajput, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, in his race with his Jat rival to project himself as the leading Hindutva leader in his region. The general perception is that Som is winning the race.
After losing from Muzaffarnagar in 2024, Balyan, who had represented the seat for the previous 10 years, had accused Som of engineering his defeat.
Som, MLA from Sardhana in Meerut for two terms starting 2012, had earlier blamed Balyan for his defeat in the 2022 Assembly elections.
Som had largely played second fiddle in 2013 when Balyan helped the BJP polarise voters across swathes of the country following the Muzaffarnagar riots, which killed about 60 people and displaced 50,000 families. The riots created a political climate congenial to the BJP ahead of the 2014 general election.
Balyan later served the Modi government from 2014 till 2017, and from 2019 to 2024, as minister of state for various departments.
“Balyan’s anger may harm the BJP. Sharing the dais with Mann and Beniwal was not a good idea,” a senior BJP leader in Lucknow said.
“We didn’t like the way Mann attacked Modi from the same platform and Balyan was seen smiling. We have sent a video of the event to the central BJP leadership.”
Mann had, without naming Modi, said: “I want Balyanji to close his ears…. He (Modi) wanted to become Vishwa Guru (teacher of the world) but became Vishwa Chela (lackey of the world). (US President Donald) Trump orders him on who India should buy its petrol from.”
Mann was chief guest at the event. Beniwal, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MP from Nagaur in Rajasthan, had left the BJP during the farmers’ movement of 2020-21. He had accused the BJP government in his state of being knee-deep in corruption.