Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP from Rajasthan, has sparked a row over a video that shows him turning away a Muslim woman during a free blanket distribution event.
Singh, who was MP from 2014 to 2024 from the Tonk Sawai Madhopur seat, is heard telling the women that those who abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi have no right to blankets.
“In the interpretation of the humane perspective and sensitivities of BJP and RSS, hatred is evident rather than compassion. Depriving a poor, needy woman of a blanket and insulting her is extremely reprensible and unfortunate. Discrimination based on religion and caste is not only morally wrong but also a violation of constitutional rights,” Congress leader and former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot, said in a post on X.
The incident reportedly took place at a blanket distribution event on Sunday afternoon. Some people present there alleged that blankets were initially given to women, but later taken back after their religious identities were known.
“From former MP Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuria ji, who has served as a parliamentarian twice and represented the area, there was an expectation that he would demonstrate human sensitivity,” Pilot said.
‘Insulting Muslim woman’
Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, Tikaram Jully, accused Jaunapuria of insulting a Muslim woman during a blanket distribution program in the Tonk district and took back the blanket after asking her religion.
Citing a purported video of the incident, Jully claimed that the former MP distributed blankets in the Kareda village of Niwai tehsil and withdrew one from a woman after learning her name.
“A former MP asking a poor woman her religion and then taking back the blanket is highly condemnable,” Jully said, alleging discrimination.
In a purported video clip, Jaunapuria is seen distributing blankets among a group of women. He asks one of them her name. When she gives a Muslim name, he asks his aides not to give her the blanket. He then says,
“Listen to me, those who abuse (Prime Minister) Modi have no right to take (blankets). I can’t help if you feel bad about it,” Jaunpuria is heard saying in the video. He is then seen asking them to vacate the place.
Later in the video, some people are seen confronting the BJP leader over refusing blankets to Muslim women. They are seen telling him the women had been waiting for hours before being asked to leave empty-handed. Jaunpuria claimed that he was distributing blankets in a personal capacity and no government funds were used.
The former MP had gone to invite people for PM Modi’s proposed visit to Ajmer on February 28.
Who is Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria?
Jaunpuria, 68, served as a Member of the Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2024, representing the Tonk–Sawai Madhopur constituency in Rajasthan as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.
Before joining the BJP, he entered politics as an independent legislator in Haryana, serving in the Haryana Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2009 from the Sohna constituency.
In the 2014 general elections, he defeated former Indian cricketer and politician Mohammad Azharuddin. He was re-elected in 2019 by defeating former cabinet minister Namo Narayan Meena.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he contested again from Tonk–Sawai Madhopur but was defeated, finishing as the runner-up. Harish Chandra Meena of the Congress won from the seat.
