Trinamool MP Nusrat Jahan recently dominated media coverage and trended on social media for several reasons including her decision to chant Vande Mataram after taking oath as a Lok Sabha MP. She also became the darling of the country’s Hindutva supporters, who hailed her for sporting a sindoor after marrying her boyfriend Nikhil Jain. Soon after taking oath as an MP, she had touched the feet of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Now, it emerges that her husband has been a big fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami.
While Hindutva gang hailed her as being the embodiment of a true Indian, the actress-turned-politician earned flak from Muslims on social media. Many Muslims trolled her for embracing a Hindu identity and chanting Vande Mataram with many asking if the young parliamentarian could still win from a Muslim-dominated Bashirhat constituency if voters there were aware of ideological leaning before the Lok Sabha polls.
Nusrat Jahan married businessman Nikhil Jain, who she’s been dating for several years, in Turkey this month by following traditional Hindu rituals. Jain owns popular ladies dress showroom Rangoli in Kolkata. The showroom now also has branches in several cities across India.
However, as highlighted by many social media users, it emerges that Jain has been a supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi even though his wife won this year’s Lok Sabha polls by defeating the candidate from the prime minister’s party, the BJP.
In May 2014, when Modi won the Lok Sabha elections and appeared set to become India’s prime minister, Jain had taken to Facebook to write in excitement, “Har Har Modi.” Incidentally, Har Har Modi had become a popular catchphrase for Modi supporters in the period leading to 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Jain’s social media footprint also indicates his admiration for Arnab Goswami. In February 2016, when the JNU controversy exploded, Goswami was one of those TV anchors, who demanded strict punishment for students like Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others. Goswami even coined the term tukde tukde gang implying that they aimed towards the disintegration of India. Sharing a YouTube link of Goswami’s programme from his debate on Times Now channel on 18 February, 2016, Nikhil Jain wrote, “#BanAntiIndiaElements, Democracy cannot be used as a tool for separatists & terrorists to fulfill their motive in India.”
In another post on Facebook in February 2016, Nusrat Jahan’s husband wrote, “More importantly, the elements are probably ISI recruits in JNU who are doing guerilla warfare, so in all in interests mainly national human too, they should be banned. Freedom of Speech does not allow OSama Bin Laden (had he been a US citizen)to recruit for his jihaad at Times Square.”
His another post on the same JNU controversy slamming India’s liberals in September 2016 read, “To all Burhan and JNU lovers, Democracy in India does not allow you to defend terrorism! Decisive military action needed to wipe out the PoK base, do justice to the victims of 26/11, and other terror attacks!”
According to some reports, Nusrat Jahan and Nikhil Jain came in contact with each other after the former became the brand ambassador of Rangoli brand.