Indian ‘flew 1st aeroplane’, Akbar was ‘rapist’ – Rajasthan minister Dilawar’s headline-making spree

From declaring Akbar a “rapist” to claiming that it was not the Wright Brothers who invented the aircraft, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Madan Dilawar has veered into one controversy after another since taking charge as Rajasthan’s school education minister this January.

The six-term MLA has been on a mission to push the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and to brandish his credentials as that of a Hindutva leader. In some political circles, he is even referred to as Rajasthan’s Narottam Mishra, who served as home minister in the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

According to political analyst Rajan Mahan, “Dilawar has been a firebrand leader of the BJP since its early days, although he was not a very big leader during the tenures of (Bhairon Singh) Shekhawat and (Vasundhara) Raje.”

“The Hindutva flavour was not the main ingredient of his politics earlier, but now Hindutva is the core focus. Over time, he has risen the ranks and tries to consolidate the party’s strength ahead of polls, particularly in the Hadoti region, which is an RSS stronghold,” Mahan told ThePrint.

A cabinet colleague of the minister added, “Dilawar was in the Bajrang Dal and was a close associate of Pravin Togadia. After the 1989 riots (in Kota), he was among those accused of making provocative speeches.”

“The Ram temple agitation gave many hardline Hindutva leaders a platform and Dilawar by raking up one controversy after another seized the opportunity. Being a Dalit also helped him climb up the ranks in the BJP.”