Controversial Indian YouTuber Manish Kashyap joins Modi's BJP, says it honours the poor

MANISH KASHYAP, a controversial YouTuber from the eastern Indian state of Bihar, who was arrested last year over alleged 'fake videos' claiming attacks on migrants from his state in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, on Thursday (25) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming it was the Hindu nationalist party that helped him come out of jail. The development comes a day before the second phase of India's general elections 2024 takes place. 

“If I am safely out of jail today, it is due to the blessings of my mother and the support of BJP leaders,” Kashyap was quoted as saying by news agency Asian News International.

He joined the BJP in the presence of its parliamentarian from Delhi, Manoj Tiwari, who the former said got him out of jail.

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He said they reached Delhi from Bihar on Wednesday for the occasion and said his mother is a big fan of prime minister Narendra Modi. Kashyap also said the National Security Act was slapped on him but now all charges have been cleared and he has got bail. He added that his fight against those who defame the "Sanatan" (traditional religion or Hinduism) would continue.

Kashyap also said that he would work towards making the BJP stronger in Bihar and attacked opposition parties such as Rashtriya Janata Dal led by former Indian federal minister and chief minister of the state, Lalu Prasad, and his family.

Praising the Hindu nationalist party, Kashyap said, “BJP respects the poor, women, a YouTuber, a mother”, reported the ANI.

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He added that it is only the BJP that would “honour the son of a poor family” while some parties in Bihar don not even let one join unless one comes in with “full suitcases” implying large amounts of cash as offerings and that makes the party different.

“That is why it has emerged as the biggest capable party in the world,” he said. 

"I will keep working for nationalism as I have always done. When I used to do it earlier, a few parties used to frame me and jail me. A lot of BJP leaders supported me...If I am safely out of jail today, it is due to the blessings of my mother and the support of BJP leaders,” he added.

Tiwari, who has also worked as an actor and singer for Bhojpuri movies and has strong connections with Bihar, said that he had known Kashyap for a long time. The BJP respects people like Kashyap who raise issues about the poor, he said. 

Kashyap was arrested in March last year for circulating alleged ‘fake videos’ that showed Bihari migrants being attacked in Tamil Nadu. He was arrested in Bihar and sent to Tamil Nadu. After spending months in jail in Madurai in the southern state, he was taken back to Bihar and finally walked out of jail last December. 

The ‘fake videos’ he posted had aggravated the tension between the two states, so much so that the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, who is a member of the anti-BJP alliance bloc, urged the migrants from the state not to believe in those rumours. 

He had even a talk over phone with his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, who was then in an alliance with the RJD but switched sides to join the BJP earlier this year, assuring him about the safety of the migrant workers.

Cases were filed against Kashyap who surrendered to the police after being on the run for weeks.

Kashyap surrendered to the police after being on the run for several weeks. Although he was arrested in Bihar, his custody was transferred to Madurai, in Tamil Nadu. 

Kashyap is widely followed on YouTube where his channel 'Manish Kashyap Son of Bihar' has 8.75 million subscribers.

(With ANI inputs)