Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has been the spokesperson for the Delhi BJP for some time now. But his primary claim to fame has remained his provocative posts on Twitter. With nearly 6.5 lakh followers, Bagga has never shied away from a (digital) duel with 'liberals' and leftwingers and even taken on actresses such as Sonam Kapoor-Ahuja and Konkona Sen Sharma over the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Thus when news emerged last week that Bagga was apparently denied a ticket for the Delhi Assembly polls from the Tilak Nagar constituency, opponents of the rightwing ecosystem could barely conceal their joy. #DontCryBagga was trending on Twitter, with a plentiful supply of memes about Bagga.
But the leftwing's joy has proven to be short-lived. Early on Tuesday, the BJP named Bagga as its candidate from the Hari Nagar constituency.
The importance of the nomination for Bagga can be gauged by the wishes pouring in for him. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya tweeted, "We are all with you, Paaji! You will win!"
Sumeet Bhasin, a former member of the BJP's IT team, tweeted Bagga was a “simple, nationalist believer in Karma and pure soul willing to help needy". He also claimed Bagga had fought for justice for victims of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the Nirbhaya gang-rape-and-murder case.
Interestingly, Bagga released a rap 'campaign' song after midnight. He also created a Twitter ID 'Office of Tajinder Bagga' for the election from Hari Nagar, with the campaign song the only post so far.
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The song, Bagga, Bagga Har Jagah, is already getting noticed. Like Bagga, the song pulls no punches and describes the BJP leader as one "who does war on traitors". It refers to his protests on the Nirbhaya case and his attempt to enter the campus of the National Institute of Technology in Srinagar in 2016 when non-Kashmiri students were in a stand-off with Kashmiris.
Bagga first made headlines in October 2011 when he assaulted lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan in his Supreme Court chambers to protest his remarks on Jammu and Kashmir.
In March 2012, Bagga and his outfit, the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena, heckled Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in north Delhi.