Haryana assembly polls: 'Cow vigilante' Bittu Bajrangi contesting for Faridabad?

Bittu Bajrangi, a self-styled cow protector and a key accused in the Nuh communal violence case from 2023, has taken his first step into electoral politics by filing his nomination as an independent candidate from the NIT assembly constituency in Faridabad, Haryana.

Bajrangi, who is currently out on bail, addressed the local media after submitting his papers, stating that the "public has given me the ticket" to contest.

He pledged to continue advocating for "dharma" and focusing on issues such as protecting "the daughters" from so-called ‘love jihad’.

Bajrangi, whose real name is Rajkumar Panchal, is the founder of the Gau Raksha Bajrang Force, a group notorious for its cow vigilantism in Haryana.

Over the years, he has been a polarising figure, particularly due to his controversial actions against those he claims are involved in cattle smuggling. He is known for his inflammatory speeches targeting Muslims. When called out, he has claimed to have received threats from Islamist groups and said that his family had been targeted in the past.

He was also famously caught on camera thrashing a man even as local police looked on.

Cow vigilantism has been a huge concern in Haryana, where right-wing groups claiming to 'protect cows' have often been implicated in several violent incidents.

A much-publicised recent incident was that of 23 August, when members of one such 'cow protection group' shot and killed Aryan Mishra, a Class XII student, following a car chase on the Delhi–Agra National Highway in Faridabad.

The group claim to have mistaken Mishra's vehicle for that of suspected Muslim ‘cow smugglers’. The boy's bereaved parents had asked the assailants in person why they would at all want to kill a Muslim over a cow.

Last year in Haryana’s Mewat region there was communal violence during the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, organised by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad). Bajrangi was one of the accused in the violence.

After the Nuh incident, both RSS and VHP were careful to disavow responsibility for and ties to this particular loose cannon of a Hindutva activist.

Bajrangi’s entry into the electoral politics, despite his controversial record, has raised concerns about the increasing influence of vigilante groups in 'Jatland' politics.

Voting for Haryana’s 90-member legislative assembly is scheduled for 5 October, with 12 September the last date for filing of nominations. The counting of votes will take place on 8 October.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP had emerged as the single-largest party, securing 40 seats, while the Congress claimed 30 seats.