When it comes to giving opportunities to the ground level party workers BJP has set a great benchmark. While all the political parties including the Aam Aadmi Party (who claimed to be different) always prefer candidates with money power or political clout when distributing electoral tickets, BJP stands apart. Though they have a fair share of dynasts and rich politicians they do also promote and encourage candidates based purely on merit. The biggest example is Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself who came up the ranks from a humble background, a grassroot ‘karyakarta’ and having absolutely no political influence or money power. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Modi and Amit Shah took in a very young and dynamic party worker Tejasvi Surya and got him elected to the Parliament showing great faith in our youth. On similar lines this time Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga made the list for Delhi Assembly elections.
Tajinder Bagga or “The Troll” as he is fondly called by his distractors was not named in the first list that was announced on 17th January 2020 by Delhi BJP. The whole left ecosystem trended “#DontCryBagga” on twitter mocking him. He responded by saying “I am BJP, contesting from all 70 seats” like a true dedicated party worker, ready to serve any constituency. As fate had it, BJP released another list 4 days later on Tuesday which named Bagga as a candidate from Hari Nagar, a constituency with a Sikh majority. Again there was a huge trend on twitter but this time from his supporters with a hashtag #Bagga4HariNagar which topped all trends that day on the micro-blogging site.
Tajinder Bagga enjoys a huge following on Social Media with more than 6 Lakh followers just on twitter. He is very witty and takes on the “Anti-India” ideology with great humor and sarcasm. The people on the receiving end obviously don’t like it and tend to hate his antics.
He is also very creative in his protests against politicians. In 2014 Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said “Modi can’t be PM, We can set up a tea stall for him” taking a jibe at Modi’s childhood as tea seller. Bagga immediately set up a tea stall in front of the congress AICC meet and started selling tea in protest. The whole nation knows how damaging that was for the Congress.
Tajinder Pal Bagga selling Tea outside #AICCMeet as a mark of protest against Mani Shankar Aiyar's remark on Modi pic.twitter.com/QDacXG1v6T
— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2014
Tajinder Bagga’s name first appeared publicly in 2011 when Prashant Bhushan was slapped and kicked by some people after his statement that the Army should be taken out from Kashmir and they should be allowed to be separated from India if they wished to. Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena, a social outfit started by Bagga to oppose anti-India views, claimed credit for the incident and he was arrested for the same. Being a fierce nationalist Bagga has always taken stand against those who want to break India. He keeps engaging and exposing them day-in & day-out on social media which land him in controversies.
One such controversy was about Major Leetul Gogoi. Major Gogoi on 14th April 2017, during Lok Sabha by-elections in Srinagar, strapped a civilian Farooq Dar to his jeep and paraded. The reason for such an inhuman act was not one of showing off power. It was instead, a clever idea of getting out from a near death situation for the Army convoy. Major Gogoi’s conoy of about 30 people was surrounded by a vengeful mob of stone pelters of more than 400 people who would have lynched them mercilessly. To get out of the situation safely, Major Gogoi tied Mr Dar to his jeep so that nobody could pelt stones. He was even commended for his quick thinking by the then Army Chief. Now as expected the so-called Anti-Nationals took a stand against Indian Army and Bagga protested. He brought out a T-shirt with an image of the whole incident for which he was appreciated by many while some people still whine about it.
After he filed his nomination his educational background became a controversy. When we asked about his degree, Bagga a school drop out said “yes it’s unfortunate that I could not pursue education but i have learnt directly from the society and people. I have seen and experienced day to day struggles of the poor and the marginalised which no school can teach you. I have also enrolled myself in a Bachelor Preparatory Programme from the IGNOU since not having an educational degree is made out to be a big issue.” He was even trolled for mentioning his Diploma assuming it’s from China. But he clarified saying “It’s not from China but Taiwan. It was a one-month course. I had received an invite from the Taiwan government to enroll. I stayed there for a month in December 2017 to complete the course.”
For some he may just be a troll but for many in Delhi he is a compassionate social worker. He has organized many blood donation camps across Delhi. He also tweets to his followers for help if anybody needs blood across India.
Urgent requirement of 5 unit O+
Blood at Delhi Apolo hospital. Contact Person 9777059004— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) May 4, 2018
Bagga distributed blankets every night during winter for homeless people.
7th Day – Distributing blankets to homeless friends with BJYM Volunteers pic.twitter.com/1lp3xcthEw
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) January 9, 2018
When Congress announced Kamal Nath as CM of MP, Bagga went on a hunger strike to protest. Kamal Nath was allegedly involved in the 1984 Sikh pogrom where more than 3000 Sikhs were massacred. MHA has set up an SIT and reopened the cases recently.
Fourth day of hunger strike by @TajinderBagga – 5℃ की कड़कड़ाती सर्दी में चार दिन से बिना कुछ खाये #TrueSikhWarrior pic.twitter.com/NbQCvB3U43
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) December 20, 2018
He went on Indefinite hunger strike demanding to hang the rapists of Nirbhaya, who is still awaiting justice.
He contributes to the Army fund every month from whatever he earns. He connects and responds to people very well, a trait rarely found these days among politicians. His ego-less humble nature is what draws people towards him and this is what will make him win in the coming polls. Tajinder Bagga was recognized for his ground work in all BJP election campaigns and appointed as Spokesperson for Delhi BJP in 2017. Like almost all sikh sardars he is considered to have a heart of gold and always in the mode of serving people. Many of his friends and supporters from all across the country have traveled to Delhi to campaign for him.
Hari Nagar Constituency:
Tajinder Bagga is probably the first MLA candidate to release a Manifesto for a single constituency. After understanding the problems faced by the locals he and his team have come up with a 9 point plan which he plans to implement if he wins. The important ones are Installing smog towers within 60 days, setting up composting units for waste management, making Harinagar free from potholes, building a cricket academy with free coaching, installing 100 water ATMs and a multilayer car parking. He also plans to make women safe by eliminating dark spots and opening up a free self defence training facility.
Mr Bagga is facing Surinder Kumar Setia of the Congress and Raj Kumari Dhillon of the AAP in the February 8 elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly. It is interesting to note that AAP’s candidate Raj Kumari Dhillon has declared assets worth 50 Crores while Bagga has only 19 Lakhs in movable assets along with a car loan of around 5 Lakh Rupees.
You can call him a troll or influencer or whatever but you cannot deny that he is a devout patriot and a core Nationalist. A very down to earth and humble leader who will listen to your problems and put an honest effort to resolve them. A true Aam Aadmi who will stand by you in times of distress, like a ‘paaji’ (brother).