Ramashankar | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 6, 2020)

Patna: A BJP poster campaign featuring a sepia-toned picture of Sushant Singh Rajput and seeking “justice” for the late actor has created a stir in pollbound Bihar. Around 30,000 posters and pamphlets have been printed by the party’s art and culture cell with the hashtag “#JusticeForSushant” and a slogan in Hindi, “Na bhoole hain, na bhoolne denge (we have neither forgotten, nor will we let anyone forget).”

BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said there was nothing political about the campaign even as the opposition RJD accused the party of milking the issue. “This is just meant to show solidarity with the departed actor’s family, which is waiting for justice,” Anand said.

RJD’s Mritunjay Tiwari claimed leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav was the first to demand a CBI probe into Sushant’s death, but was against flagging it for political reasons. “Kisi ki lash par rajniti nahi honi chahiye (there should not be politics over someone’s body),” he said.

Varun Singh, state convener of the BJP’s art and culture cell, said the demand for a CBI probe was first raised by his unit “only two days after Sushant’s body was found in his flat”. BJP’s art and culture cell has written to CM Nitish Kumar to name Rajiv Nagar Chowk in Patna and also the proposed film city at Rajgir in Nalanda after the actor. Almost every political party in Bihar has attached itself to Sushant, a Rajput. “The Rajputs are a force in around 40 constituencies of the state. There are 19 legislators from this caste in different political parties in the present assembly,” a senior Congress functionary said.