Girish Mahajan

Girish Mahajan is a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government. He entered Panthic history on 6 June 2026, when he spoke at the Damdami Taksal's gathering at Mehta Chowk for the 42nd anniversary of Operation Blue Star. The Tribune reported it as the first time the BJP had officially sent a representative to the observance, and Mahajan as the first serving minister from any state government to attend it.

Wikipedia gives his birth as 17 May 1960 at Jamner. He has been MLA for Jamner since 1995, and has held Water Resources, Medical Education, Rural Development and Tourism in Maharashtra governments. Since December 2024 he has held Water Resources for Vidarbha, Tapi and Konkan.

Key moments

• 6 June 2026: he called Operation Blue Star an "aakraman" (military attack) and 6 June a "black day", and accused Indira Gandhi of forcibly sending the Army into the complex. He called those who died "shaheeds", which The Tribune says was the first time a BJP leader had publicly used the word for those who fought the Army. He compared the 1984 action to the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali, said the anti-Sikh violence of November 1984 was comparable to the injustices of the Abdali period, and regretted that no one had been punished. He closed with "Jai Hind". Portraits of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Major General Shabeg Singh and Amrik Singh stood on the stage.
• Who was there: Taksal head Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami and leaders of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. Akal Takht Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and senior Akali Dal leaders were absent.
• The BJP's account: spokesperson Prof Sarchand Singh said Mahajan "represented the Maharashtra Chief Minister", Devendra Fadnavis, and called the visit "a reciprocal gesture" for the Taksal's earlier support to the BJP in Maharashtra. The Tribune does not say who invited him.

Reactions. According to The Tribune, the analyst Prof Kuldip Singh put the closeness down to a shift in the Taksal's orientation under its present leadership. Several Sikh organisations criticised references to "Sanatani Sikhs" made at the event. An unnamed Taksal disciple told the paper the Taksal's support is conditional on demands that include the release of Sikh political prisoners and justice for Operation Blue Star and for 1984. The paper also notes that Mahajan's words contrast with the Punjab BJP's long opposition to glorifying Bhindranwale and his associates, and that the visit left both the Punjab BJP and the Akali Dal uncomfortable.

Why he features here. For the language used on a Taksal stage by a serving BJP minister, and for what the Panth makes of it.