The New Indian Express ·
Politics
Who is Swatantra Bhardwaj? Inside the Hindutva influencer’s online persona
NEW DELHI: Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj had built a sizeable social media following with provocative posts, displays of political proximity and incendiary statements long before a video showing him boasting about assaulting a Jantar Mantar protester's father went viral.
The 22-year-old, who describes himself as a "Sanatani Yodha", was detained from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, hours after Delhi Police assured CJP protesters that he would be arrested within 72 hours in connection with the alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, father of student activist Nishu Azad, during the July 20 protest in the national capital.
His detention came after a clip from an interview went viral in which Bhardwaj is heard claiming that he had "cracked the skull" of Kumar, leaving him with an injury that required 60 stitches, and yet managed to avoid being jailed.
A look at Bhardwaj's social media presence shows that such statements were hardly an aberration from the persona he has cultivated.
His Facebook page, which has around 3,27,000 followers, is replete with posts centred on Hindutva, cow protection, attacks on Muslims and critics of the government, and photographs projecting his proximity to political figures and official events.
On Thursday, a day before he was detained, Bhardwaj posted a screenshot showing his name among the trends on X, captioning it, "Love you all Virodhi".
Bhardwaj also posted a photograph of himself on Instagram displaying a 'kada' on his wrist with the caption "Feel the power!", an apparent reference to Delhi Police's statement that Kumar was hurt by 'kada' and "not by any weapon".
His Facebook page also carries photographs of him at the Red Fort on August 15 with hashtags such as "#sanatanihero" and "#gaurakshak". In another post, he displayed an invitation issued in his name by the Ministry of Defence for the Independence Day ceremony this year.
He had similarly posted photographs of invitations issued to him for the swearing-in ceremony of the Narendra Modi government on June 9, 2024.
There are also photographs of Bhardwaj with political leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra and Union minister Chirag Paswan.
Paswan told reporters on Friday that Bhardwaj misused his name and that of other leaders.
The Union minister for food processing industries said he has lodged a complaint against Bhardwaj and demanded action against him.
"No action despite the accused admitting to an attack that could have been fatal sets a bad example; I take responsibility for ensuring justice for the family," Paswan said.
Several posts feature what appear to be AI-generated images of Bhardwaj with women wearing burqas or hijabs.
One particularly violent image, posted on May 22, shows Bhardwaj holding the bloodied chin of a man. The accompanying text refers to "Mughal" and carries the words "aa gaya swad".
His Instagram account, which had around 1,84,000 followers, was deactivated on Friday. Bhardwaj also has a verified account on X with more than 6,400 followers and the bio reads: "A Modern-Day Youngster Who Can't Tolerate Anything Against His DHARMA and RASHTRA."
As the clip about the alleged assault on Kumar circulated widely, several older videos featuring Bhardwaj also surfaced on social media. In some of them, he is purportedly heard making inflammatory statements against Muslims and government critics. In others, he boasts about his political connections and claims that he does not fear arrest.
In the clip that drew attention to him, he boasted about cracking the skull of Nishu's father.
"Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches. The man was being taken away in an ambulance in serious condition. His daughter was standing outside the police station and saying that she would die by suicide if her father didn't get justice.
"But I was not even jailed. The world should know this. I was out and about through the night," Bhardwaj is heard saying in the video.
He then invoked the names of several political leaders while explaining why, according to him, he had little reason to worry.
"I have the blessings of Hanuman upon me. And secondly, Kapil Mishra is my elder brother. They say Kapil Mishra called and I was released. Chirag Paswan is my elder brother. How many leaders do you know? Do you know Modi ji? Modi ji is also my elder brother. I have everyone's support," he claimed.
However, there is no evidence to establish that the political leaders named by Bhardwaj intervened on his behalf in the case.
The video gave fresh impetus to demands for action against him, with protesters raising the issue during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest in Delhi on Friday.
Police officials said several teams were subsequently deployed to trace Bhardwaj. He allegedly fled Naithla village on a motorcycle towards Khurja before a police team could apprehend him there and was wearing a helmet, apparently in an attempt to conceal his identity.
He was eventually detained in Bulandshahr.
