‘Khuda ek, Bhagwan ek’: Why a Rajasthan BJP veteran recited ‘kalma’ at a poll rally

While most politicians are accused of paying lip service to secularism, BJP veteran and former seven-term Rajasthan MLA Rajendra Rathore recently went a step further to burnish his secular credentials when he recited the first kalma (a declaration of faith) of Islam before a public gathering in Churu.

“I have only one nivedan (thing to say), Khuda ek, Bhagwan ek (there is one God),” Rathore said in Pithisar village earlier this week while addressing a gathering in support of his daughter-in-law Kanika Singh, who is contesting from ward 23 for Churu Zila Parishad polls, before reciting the kalma, “La ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasulullah,” to loud cheers. Known as the first kalma in Islam, it means “There is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

He then quoted lines from Mahatma Gandhi’s prayer hymn, followed by a Hindi devotional couplet: “Ishwar Allah tero naam, sabko sadbhuddhi de Bhagwan. Jaat paat puuche na koi, hare ko bhaje so hari ka hoi (Let no one ask about a person’s caste or creed; whoever worships Hari (God) belongs to Him). So, we are all one. And the blood running through our veins is also one.”

The BJP leader said in all these years in public life, there had not been any “dag on his daman”, or a stain on his hem, meaning no allegations of impropriety or dishonesty. “I have no regret in saying that till date, I have only spread insaniyat (humanity) and muhabbat (love), never hate,” he said. Earlier, at another gathering, Kanika Singh had also greeted people with an Assalamalaikum.

The comments are seen as being aimed at the local electorate, which comprises Kayamkhani Muslims. The fourth and final phase of Rajasthan’s Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections will be held in 25 districts on Saturday.

Responding to Rathore’s comments, state BJP president Madan Rathore said, “It isn’t kalma. Kalma is a different thing. People don’t know, hence they are using the word kalma; I know the kalma and know each and every word. It wasn’t kalma at all. And I can’t say whether Rajendra ji remembers the kalma or not, but I remember, and every word.”

Referring to Kanika’s greeting, he said, “Second, if someone greets you with namaskar and you respond with namaskar or namaste, then you aren’t committing a sin; (similarly) if Salamalaikum is said, then walekum assalam is said. Everyone knows this; there’s nothing here.”

Apart from Kanika, her husband and Rathore’s son Parakram Rathore is also contesting from ward 39 in Churu Zila Parishad.

Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi, meanwhile, said, “The RSS and the BJP’s ideology is to divide society, but for votes they are now reciting Mahatma Gandhi’s hymn. And in the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha, they don’t give any tickets to a minority candidate either. People now know their intentions and are not going to be misled. They will vote against this ideology which divides the society,” he said.

Who is Rajendra Rathore?

Between 1990 and 2023, Rathore won seven MLA elections consecutively. His first Assembly win came as a Janata Dal candidate in 1990 from Churu, and then in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018 as a BJP candidate. Except for 2008, when he won from Churu’s Taranagar Assembly constituency, his remaining wins came from Churu.

A party veteran and virtually Vasundhara Raje’s right hand as a powerful Cabinet Minister during her tenure (2013-18), Rathore was seen as a top contender for the CM seat ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. However, while he shifted to Taranagar again in 2023 amid reports of anti-incumbency and hoping to benefit from his Jat party colleague and friend Harlal Saharan in Taranagar, Rathore lost as the contest became sharply polarised along caste lines. It essentially became a Jat versus Rajput contest, with the Congress’s Narendra Budania, a Jat, ending up winning the election. Saharan, meanwhile, managed to win from Rathore’s traditional Churu seat.