The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has filed a police complaint against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ram Gopal Yadav over his remarks referencing the caste of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, local police confirmed. The BJP also strongly condemned Yadav’s comments on May 16, calling them “casteist,” and urged SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to take disciplinary action against him.
Ram Gopal Yadav sparked controversy with his remarks at a public event, where he highlighted the caste background of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal Sadhna S Bharti, saying, “Let me tell you. Vyomika Singh is a Jatav from Haryana and Air Marshal Bharti is a Yadav from Purnia. So all three were from the PDA — picchda, Dalit, alpsankhyak (backwards, Dalits, and minorities),” Yadav said. Ram Gopal Yadav’s comments were widely criticised for bringing caste into the discourse surrounding the armed forces.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who played a key role in Operation Sindoor—a military response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir—was part of several media briefings on the operation alongside Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
A complaint has been filed against Samajwadi Party General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav by Rajkamal Gupta, a central working committee member of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, at the Civil Lines police station in Moradabad. According to police, while the complaint has been received, an FIR is yet to be registered. Yadav sparked controversy on May 15 by publicly mentioning Wing Commander Singh’s caste during an event in Moradabad.
भारतीय सेना और हिंदू समाज पर अपनी पार्टी की विभाजनकारी मानसिकता के साथ प्रहार करने वाले समाजवादी पार्टी के महासचिव श्री राम गोपाल यादव के बयान के विरुद्ध विश्व हिंदू परिषद ने उत्तर प्रदेश के मुरादाबाद के सिविल लाइंस थाने में शिकायत दर्ज की है। शिकायत में उनकी इस देश विरोधी और… pic.twitter.com/hgImE1ZEs4
— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal বিনোদ বনসল వినోద్ బన్సాల్ (@vinod_bansal) May 16, 2025
VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal posted details and images of the complaint on X (formerly Twitter), demanding prompt action against what he described as “anti-national and anti-Hindu” remarks.
In his post, Bansal said, “The Vishva Hindu Parishad has filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station in Moradabad against Samajwadi Party General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav for his divisive and derogatory comments targeting the Indian Army and Hindu society. The complaint demands strict legal action under relevant laws, including for the grave insult directed at a Scheduled Caste officer.” An official at the Civil Lines police station confirmed to PTI on Friday evening that a complaint had been received, but no FIR has been lodged yet.
In a post on X in Hindi on May 16, Keshav Prasad Maurya said, ‘Shri Ram Gopal Yadav, who became a professor by continuously torturing Dalits, is not refraining (himself) from looking down upon Dalits even at this age’.
दलितों पर अनवरत अत्याचार करके प्रोफेसर बने श्री रामगोपाल यादव इस उम्र में भी दलितों को हेय दृष्टि से देखने से बाज नहीं आ रहे हैं।
— Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) May 16, 2025
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia denounced Ram Gopal Yadav’s remarks as “irresponsible and troubling,” accusing the SP leader of attempting to sow caste-based divisions within the armed forces.
“This is both unfortunate and condemnable,” Bhatia said, adding that mentioning an officer’s caste is a “serious offence” under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He questioned whether SP chief Akhilesh Yadav would take action against Ram Gopal Yadav, or let personal loyalties override national interest.
