Lucknow / After Kamlesh Tiwari’s murder, wife Kiran to take over as Hindu Samaj Party chief

Days after Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari was murdered at his Lucknow office, his widow Kiran Tiwari will take over as the party chief on Saturday. The Hindu outfit was founded by Tiwari in 2017 after breaking off with Hindu Mahasabha.

40-year-old Kiran Tiwari said she was confident of taking over responsibility of the Hindu outfit, which she claims has its presence in 18 states. She is expected to be formally declared as the party president at a presser later in the day.

Kiran takes over on a day when the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by Yogi Adityanath government in coordination with the UP police and Gujarat ATS arrested three more accused in connection with Tiwari’s murder, taking the total number of arrests to 10. Tiwari was found dead at his residence in Naka Hindola area of Lucknow on October 18.

Kiran, who has completed her studies till class 12, has said that she will soon convene a meeting of the Hindu outfit’s national executive to decide how to take the “movement” forward.

“Now that he (Kamlesh) has left us with this responsibility, I will discharge it fully. There is no question (of backtracking),” Kiran said. The fledgling Hindu outfit Kiran is set to take over was little known until Kamlesh’s killing.

Kamlesh, 45, a graduate, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as an Independent candidate from Faizabad. However, Kiran said any decision on contesting the 2022 UP polls would be taken after consultation with other party leaders.

Apart from his controversial remark on Prophet Muhammad, due to which he was booked under the National Security Act (NSA) by the then Samajwadi Party government in 2015 and had several ‘fatwas’ issued against him by clerics, Kamlesh had hogged limelight again in 2018 when he had announced his decision to organise a ‘karseva’ (voluntary service for cause) for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Coincidentally, a day before he was killed, the Supreme Court concluded the hearing in the Ayodhya land title case on October 17 and a decision in the case is now expected before November 17, when Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi demits office. In 2011, Kamlesh had filed a civil petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court’s decision on Ayodhya issue.