Why Did BJP Elevate Kapil Mishra? Strike Rate, Not 'Ultra Hindutva', Was Controversial Leader's Trump Card

The name Kapil Mishra and controversy seem to have become synonymous. Be it his “3-day ultimatum” to the Delhi Police to clear the roads in Delhi of anti-CAA protesters or his reference to certain areas in the national capital as “mini Pakistan” — the former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister-turned-BJP-leader has done it all.

Mishra has also backed another controversial figure — Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham — claiming Shastri is being targeted because he is preventing “Love Jihad” (a term for religious conversion). His fiery speech in 2020 is often alleged to be the spark for the infamous Delhi riots. He is described as an “ultra-Hindu” who unapologetically sides with Hindus and raises handsome amounts through crowd-funding to hand it over to “Hindu victims” like Kanhaiyalal, a tailor in Udaipur who was stabbed last year. Mishra managed a whopping Rs 1 crore for his family.

So, when Mishra was elevated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which recently appointed him as the vice-president of its Delhi unit — many thought it must be due to his ultra Hindutva, which is a reflection of Sangh affiliates like Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) or the Bajrang Dal. But truth be told, the BJP picked him for his — in what would be called in cricketing parleys — strike rate.

Mishra has been used for campaigning by the saffron party in many states where the BJP has observed that not only does he draw significant crowds but it also translates into votes.

For instance, in the MCD election, Mishra campaigned in 51 seats and the BJP won 42 out of them. However, he caught the eyes of the central leadership during the Gujarat election where he campaigned in places like Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Himmat Nagar and drew crowds of thousands, even in roadside meetings.

“I not only campaigned but was living in Gujarat at a stretch. For instance, I was given a specific task of Surat under which three assembly constituencies fall. AAP was said to be the favourite and Gopal Italia was mounting an aggressive campaign. I stayed there for one month and ensured all the three seats go to the BJP,” Mishra tells News18. He adds that the leadership may have taken note of that.

Away from his Hindutva avatar, Mishra’s newfound utility is put to use by BJP’s election machine even in Madhya Pradesh where Shivraj Singh Chouhan is seeking another term while faced with anti-incumbency.

So far, BJP has already made Mishra tour in Devas, Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Bhopal, and Vidisha. Given that Congress’ chief ministerial face Kamal Nath is flirting with soft Hindutva, the BJP has already launched Mishra on the ground with a specific instruction — repeat his performance of Gujarat and Delhi.

No wonder, Mishra’s wearing his belief on his sleeves, his oratory skills, and his hailing from Purvanchal played a decisive role in his appointment. The Purvanchalis comprise an estimated 40 lakh of the 1.4 crore voters in the national capital. Even Delhi BJP’s former president Manoj Tiwari was from that region. But they were secondary considerations for the BJP, News18 has learnt.

Does that mean electoral performance fades controversies? Mishra disagrees. “The allegations against me were run as a campaign and brought by certain Left liberals who earlier ran a smear campaign against Yogi Adityanath or Narendra Modi at some point in time,” he tells News18.

But when asked about his role in the Delhi riots, pat came his reply: “As of today, there is no criminal case against me. There is not a single FIR that is pending. The leadership can differentiate between truth and a false campaign.” News18 reached out to the police department on the status of the Delhi riots case and they confirmed the same.

Mishra was earlier tried in the high-profile Bengal election in 2021 as well. However, the TMC came back with a thumping victory, restricting the BJP to 77 seats while Mamata Banerjee’s party bagged a whopping 213. Party insiders say those were the initial days of experimenting with Mishra. But the winter of 2022 changed things for the man who now seems to have graduated to the next level within BJP.