BJP in no mood to back off on JNU

NEW DELHI: Even as the row over JNU sedition case remained the main issue in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with leaders of political parties on Tuesday morning, BJP showed no signs of stepping back.

The JNU issue continued to escalate and several leaders of the saffron party said that it would benefit them politically. The issue has got them traction on the ground. 'Our feedback is that the party has got widespread support on the ground, especially from the middle-class. A large section of the people agree that there can be no compromise on the issue of national unity and integrity, " a senior BJP leader told ET.

According to him, the government initially intervened in the JNU matter mainly to divert the attention from the Hyderabad University Rohith Vemula case. There were reports that it had affected the party's image among Dalits, something it could not afford in view of the UP Assembly elections next year.

"When the JNU issue erupted, some in the party believed that hyper-nationalism would be a viable issue to divert attention from the Dalit one," another party leader said.

However, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav said that Vemula and JNU were completely separate issues. "You cannot talk about separating Kashmir and breaking India into pieces in the name of free speech," he said.