Fact Check: Naresh Agarwal linked Hindu deities with alcohol in 2017 Rajya Sabha as SP member, not BJP

Hyderabad: During his first speech as Congress MP and new Leader of the Opposition (LOP) on July 1, Rahul Gandhi brandished a copy of the Constitution and photos of religious figures, including Lord Shiva launched a fierce attack on the BJP and its ideological mentor, the RSS. Hitting back, the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah accused Rahul Gandhi of allegedly insulting Hindus.

Against his backdrop, a video of BJP leader Naresh Chandra Agrawal reciting a poem that links Hindu deities with alcohol is circulating on social media. The claim accompanying the video suggests that Agrawal insulted Hindu deities as a BJP Member of Parliament (MP).

An X user shared the video and wrote, “BJP MP Naresh Agarwal insulted Hindu deities and our revered ones by saying this in Parliament. At that time, even Modi, Amit Shah, and Rajnath Singh did not oppose him.” (Archive)

“Was Hinduism insulted by this poem by BJP Rajya Sabha member Naresh Chandra Agarwal or not? How many BJP leaders were enraged? Do you only know how to cheat the public?” wrote another X user who shared the video. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading as Agarwal recited the poem in Raj Sabha as a Samajwadi Party MP in 2017.

We ran a specific keyword search and found a longer version of the video published by the YouTube channel Mango News on July 19, 2017, titled ‘Naresh Agarwal Linked All Hindu Gods With Alcohol Brands.’

We also came across reports by Hindustan Times and NDTV published on July 19, 2017, which reported Samajwadi Pary leader Agarwal during a debate had linked the names of Hindu gods with alcohol, sparking protest by the BJP in the Rajya Sabha that were later expunged. The reports also mentioned that after the objections from the ruling member Agarwal withdrew his remark and apologised.

NDTV quoted then-Union finance minister Arun Jaitley as saying, “He has linked each of the Hindu Gods with a brand of alcohol. If he would have made this statement outside Parliament, he would’ve been booked. Do you have the audacity to repeat this in relation to any other religious denomination? Would you do this?”

According to the Hindustan Times report of March 13, 2018, Naresh Agrawal switched sides to the BJP on March 12, 2018, after he was denied another Rajya Sabha stint, with the Samajwadi Party picking Jaya Bachchan for a fourth term in the Upper House.

Hence, we conclude that the claim that Agarwal linked the names of Hindu deities with alcohol as BJP MP is misleading. He made the derogatory remark in 2017 as a Rajya Sabha MP of the Samajwadi Party.