Ram Gopal Yadav sparks row with 'caste' remark on Wing Commander Vyomika Singh

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Thursday sparked a controversy with a remark on the caste of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force.

Wing Commander Singh was a regular face in the press briefings on the Indian armed forces' "Operation Sindoor," along with foreign secretary Vikram Misri and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. Already, there is nationwide anger over the statement by a Madhya Pradesh BJP leader targeting Colonel Qureshi.

Yadav made the remark while addressing a programme in Moradabad. He took a dig at the ruling BJP for its pan-India "Tiranga Yatra" celebrating the successful military operation.

"These people (BJP) are taking out the Tiranga Yatra... They do everything only for elections. What is the need to take out the Tiranga Yatra? If there is a need, then the whole country should be taken into confidence, all the political parties should be taken into confidence. Those who fought there (in Operation Sindoor), are they from the BJP?" news agency PTI quoted him as saying.

Referring to the objectionable comment made by Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah for Colonel Qureshi, the Rajya Sabha MP added, "One of their ministers abused Colonel Qureshi. The high court has ordered registration of a case against him again. But he did not know who Vyomika Singh was and neither did he know about Air Marshal AK Bharti, otherwise these people would have abused them too."

Yadav further stated, "Let me tell you. Vyomika Singh is a Jatav from Haryana and Air Marshal Bharti is a Yadav from Purnia. So all three are from PDA (Picchda, dalit, Alpsankhyak or Backwards, dalits and minorities). One was abused as she is a Muslim. The other was spared as the abusers thought she is a Rajput."

'Army uniform should not be seen through casteist lens': Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath s the SP national general secretary should not see the army through "casteist lens."

"The uniform of the army is not to be seen through 'casteist lens'. Every soldier performs 'Rashtradharma' and is not a representative of any caste or religion. 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," Adityanath posted on X.

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

People would definitely respond to this "distorted casteist thinking," he added.