Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav sparked a controversy after he made remarks on Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who had been briefing the nation about ‘Operation Sindoor’ alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Colonel Sophia Qureshi. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders reacted sharply to his comments, Yadav defended his statement on the social media platform X.
What Did Ram Gopal Yadav Say?
According to IANS, speaking at a party event in Bilari Tehsil, Moradabad, the SP Leader identified the caste of Vyomika Singh and other officers, but also suggested the BJP was selectively targeting based on religious and caste backgrounds.
“They (referencing BJP leaders) did not even know who Vyomika Singh is or what her caste is, nor do they know about Air Marshal AK Bharti. Otherwise, they would have abused them too. Let me tell you — Vyomika Singh belongs to the Jatav (Dalit) community from Haryana, and Air Marshal AK Bharti is a Yadav from Purnia. All three belong to the PDA segment. One was abused because they thought she was Muslim, one was assumed to be Rajput, so nothing was said, and they have no information about the third,” Yadav said.
“This war was fought by a Muslim, a Jatav, and a Yadav. All three belong to the PDA (Picchda-backward, Dalit, Aalpsankhyak-minority) category. So, how can the BJP claim credit for this operation?” he said, as per IANS.
BJP Hits Back
His remarks have drawn sharp criticism from the Uttar Pradesh government’s top leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak.
UP CM in a post on X said that the Indian Army’s uniform is not seen through a ‘casteist lens’ and added that Yadav’s statement about Vyomika Singh depicts SP’s “narrow-mindedness” but also an insult to the Army’s valour.
“The uniform of the army is not seen through a ‘casteist lens’. Every soldier of the Indian army performs ‘national duty’ and is not a representative of any caste or religion,” he wrote.
“The Samajwadi Party’s national general secretary’s act of binding a brave daughter within the ambit of caste is not only a display of his party’s narrow-mindedness but is also a grave insult to the valour of the army and the country’s identity,” Yogi added.
सेना की वर्दी ‘जातिवादी चश्मे’ से नहीं देखी जाती है। भारतीय सेना का प्रत्येक सैनिक ‘राष्ट्रधर्म’ निभाता है, न कि किसी जाति या मजहब का प्रतिनिधि होता है।
समाजवादी पार्टी के राष्ट्रीय महासचिव द्वारा एक वीरांगना बेटी को जाति की परिधि में बांधना न केवल उनकी पार्टी की संकुचित सोच का…
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) May 15, 2025
Speaking to ANI, Deputy CM Pathak stated that the SP Leader’s statement is ‘shameful and condemnable’.
Pathak said, “The Samajwadi Party has displayed its low mentality and anti-woman thoughts by disrespecting her based on her caste. Ram Gopal Yadav’s statement is shameful and condemnable.”
Deputy CM Maurya also posted on X and said that looking at caste and religion in the Army is a ‘petty mentality’.
“The Army is beyond caste and religion. The Army has only one duty – ‘protecting the country’. Therefore, looking at caste and religion in the Army is a ‘petty mentality’,” Maurya wrote.
Ram Gopal Yadav Defends Remarks
Yadav, on Friday, took to X and defended his earlier remarks on Vyomika Singh and wrote, “In some states of North India, particularly Uttar Pradesh, where false cases are being filed against people based on religion, caste and class, encounters are being carried out based on caste and religion, property is being seized by declaring them gangsters based on caste, religion and class, women are being tortured based on caste, religion and class, postings of employees and officers are done based on caste, religion and class, about people with such corrupt mentality, I had said in a programme yesterday that Colonel Sofia was abused because she was identified by her religion, Foreign Secretary Mistry was abused, if these abusers had come to know that Vyomika Singh is Jatav and Air Marshal Avadhesh Bharti is Yadav, then they would not have refrained from abusing these officers also.”
“I am surprised that the Chief Minister, under whose nose unimaginable atrocities are being committed on minorities, Dalits, and backward classes, tweeted my entire statement without even listening to it. I have no complaint against the media channels that have taken over Islamabad and Rawalpindi because no one except the ruling party trusts them,” he added.
उत्तर भारत के कुछ राज्यों में विशेषकर उत्तर प्रदेश में जहाँ धर्म, जाति और वर्ग देखकर लोगों पर फ़र्ज़ी मुकदमे लगाये जा रहे हों, जाति धर्म के आधार पर एनकाउंटर किये जा रहे हों, जाति धर्म के आधार पर गैंगस्टर लगा कर संपत्ति जब्त की जा रही हो, जाति धर्म और वर्ग देखकर महिलाओं पर…
— Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav (@proframgopalya1) May 16, 2025
On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah on Tuesday apologised for making an objectionable remark against Colonel Sophia Qureshi. The controversy arose after a video clip of his speech went viral on social media.
(with agencies’ inputs)