THE TWITTER bio of Nand Kumar Baghel reads thus: “Proud father of Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel”.
The description smelled faintly of irony on September 7, when Nand Kumar, 86, was arrested and remanded to judicial custody in Raipur for making comments that allegedly showed the Brahmin community in poor light. At a public event in Uttar Pradesh, he had reportedly described Brahmins as “foreigners” and urged backward communities to “boycott” them.
In his six-decade-long career as a crusading socialist, Nand Kumar has got himself into trouble a number of times for his anti-caste tirades. This time, though, was different. A father being arrested and sent to jail by a government headed by his son was a first in India. It attracted a lot of public interest. Bhupesh defended the arrest saying he could not ignore acts that could upset public order. “No one, including the father of the chief minister, is above the law,” he said.
It is no secret that the Baghels have bitter ideological and political differences. But when he was granted bail four days after his arrest, Nand Kumar weighed in on the arrest with equanimity. He told THE WEEK that his son had only discharged his duty as chief minister. A first information report registered in a police station in Raipur had necessitated the arrest. What Bhupesh did, said Nand Kumar, was not political. “There might be ideological and political differences between us, but that does not alter the father-son relation,” he said.
Nand Kumar has long been unapologetic about airing his unconventional views in public. A follower of Vinoba Bhave’s Sarvodaya and Bhoodan movements, and of socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, he is known for his vehement criticism of the Hindu caste system. His speeches and writings often dub Brahmins as foreigners who must be expelled from the country.
He has also made comments regarding Hindu deities that were perceived to be deeply offensive. One of his biggest provocations was publishing the book Brahman Kumar, Ravan ko Mat Maro, a critical analysis of, among others, the Manusmriti and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, considered to be one of the greatest epics in Hindu devotional literature. The book was banned in 2001, soon after the Congress came to power in the newly formed state. Nand Kumar’s long legal fight against the ban ended in 2017, when the High Court finally dismissed his petition.
An affluent farmer who owns more than 400 acres in Durg district, Nand Kumar belongs to the Kurmi community—traditional cultivators who are part of the Other Backward Classes. People close to him say that his politics is driven by the historical injustices that “lower castes” have had to suffer. He has made his life’s work to mobilise dalits, tribals, backward communities and minorities, and ensure that they receive adequate political representation.
His Twitter page
He is also president of the Matdata Jagriti Manch (voter awareness forum) and the Akhil Bharatiya Kurmi Kisan Mazdoor Mahasabha, which works for the welfare of farmers, labourers and backward communities. The teachings of the Buddha have deeply influenced Nand Kumar, even though he has not converted to Buddhism.
Ashish Dubey, a political analyst based in Durg, has known the Baghels for more than three decades. He said Nand Kumar’s defiance and outspokenness stem from his standing as an affluent and influential farmer. “He is the typical dau, as influential farmers are locally called,” said Dubey, who is a Brahmin associated with several community organisations. “Now he is ageing and, perhaps, failing to get his ideas and agenda against the upper castes mainstreamed. So, his comments are getting shriller and somewhat offensive.”
Umesh Niwal, a Durg-based writer of politics, said there had been several instances of open disputes between the Baghels. The ugliest squabble, according to Niwal, happened in July 2019, when Nand Kumar’s wife and Bhupesh’s mother, Bindeshwari Devi, died. The father and son divided the mortal remains and performed the last rites according to their own beliefs. Bhupesh reportedly performed the last rites in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh as per Hindu rites; Nand Kumar did the same according to Buddhist rites at the Khubchand Baghel barrage in Dhamtari district in Chhattisgarh.
In the run-up to the 2018 assembly polls, Nand Kumar had written to the Congress leadership demanding that the party allocate 85 per cent of seats to candidates belonging to dalit, tribal, backward and minority communities. It prompted Bhupesh, who was state Congress chief at that time, to issue a public statement pointing out that his father was not even a primary member of the party to make such demands.
According to Niwal, Nand Kumar’s politics and his book on Ravan is rooted in the views of a section of marginalised communities who have long opposed the tradition of burning Ravan in effigy and celebrating Mahishasura’s killing on Dussehra. Apparently, the problem is that Nand Kumar’s choice of words are sometimes unfortunate.
This time, though, Bhupesh has managed to take advantage of the difficult spot that his father had put him in. “Nand Kumar going to jail certainly benefits Bhupesh, as it shows the chief minister’s determination to uphold law and order,” said Niwal. “Even if the opposition calls it a political stunt, he has certainly won brownie points this time.”
Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai said the arrest has created a buzz in favour of Bhupesh, who was on the back foot politically because of the intra-party tussle over the chief minister’s post. “His action sends out a very strong message that when most ideology-based parties are trying to protect their own, and are becoming accommodative of anti-social elements, here is a chief minister who has the courage of conviction to show that no one is above the law,” he said.
Bhupesh has also helped prevent the caste dynamics from harming the Congress. “He has proven himself to be an astute politician by scoring on the ‘duty of the ruler’ count,” said Kidwai. “He also gave out the message of him being a caste-neutral politician—a useful move ahead of the assembly elections Uttar Pradesh, where no party wants to alienate any caste or community.”