Snake venom, religion, 'roasts', politics, YouTuber Elvish Yadav no stranger to controversy
Vibha Sharma
Chandigarh, November 4
Coincidentally, controversial social media “influencer” Elvish Yadav appeared on the reality show Bigg Boss the day he was accused of illegally selling snake venom. He was there on Friday evening’s ‘Weekend ka Vaar’ hosted by Salman Khan, who he had once roasted mercilessly, with Bigg Boss OTT 2 runner-up Manisha Rani to promote their new song.
Yadav, whose real name is Siddharth, was the winner of Bigg Boss OTT 2.
Shows like ‘Weekend ka Vaar’ are normally shot in advance.
During the show Salman Khan was seen teasing him about his Bigg Boss OTT 2 trophy controversy. Khan asked him why he had come alone and where was the thing he wanted to return. As Yadav appeared puzzled, Khan said he was talking about his Bigg Boss OTT trophy. “Aapki trophy,” he said.
Yadav then goes on to explain that he did not want to return the trophy but there was so much negativity and hate after his win that he felt if all of that was happening because of a trophy he would like to return it and stop it all.
To this, Khan said when someone becomes successful, people tend do get jealous and try to bring down the person but one should not get affected by it.
Snake venom and politics
It all started with an agency tweet that an FIR had been registered in a Noida police station against six persons, including Yadav, for making available snake venom at rave parties. “They used to collect a hefty sum of money for supplying venom at parties. Nine snakes were also rescued in a raid,” as per the news agency.
Reacting to the allegations, the popular YouTuber and social media influencer refuted the charges and expressed his willingness to cooperate with police in the investigation. Saying that he was in Mumbai, Yadav posted a video in which he can be heard saying that he was ready to cooperate with UP Police and would also take full responsibility if found guilty.
Given his image as a right-winger and photos with top BJP leaders, opposition leaders jumped in. In Mumbai, leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar Atul Londhe posted his picture at Varsha—the official residence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde—on September 25 at the Ganesh pooja there.
Right-wing leanings
Many of his tweets are also interspersed with slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and references to Hindus. In his current pinned post on X, he also tries to link the case with religion. In Hindi, he says lies cannot last for long and no matter how much people try to bring him down, he has been speaking for Hindus and will continue to do so in the future as well.
However, this is not the first time his name has cropped up in a controversy.
Having been accused of “spreading communalism and promoting misogyny through social media” Yadav has also been charged with, believe it or not, theft of flower pots. This was after a video of theft of flower pots kept for decoration during the G-20 event in Gurugram went viral on the social media. Sharing photos and videos of some men lifting the flower pots, people claimed the car in which they had been taken away in belonged to Yadav.
Yadav, however, denied any connection with the flower pot theft issue.
When he roasted Salman Khan
In 2019, Yadav also “roasted” Salman Khan, rather mercilessly.
“The whole Bollywood industry is afraid of Salman Khan, nobody came in support when he finished Vivek Oberoi’s career. He has only launched women in the industry. He helps the needy and also runs his car over them. He has a hit-and-run and blackbuck case on his head and is still roaming freely. He also helps other criminals like Sooraj Pancholi,” reports quoted Yadav as saying.
He also claimed that he was offered Bigg Boss in 2019 but refused it despite clearing the audition round.
He has also roasted fellow vlogger Aashika Bhatia, weight shaming her, and another fellow YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
Yadav and Maneka Gandhi
Yadav has reacted furiously to the charges against him by senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi.
Seeking his immediate arrest, Gandhi yesterday told media that Yadav was involved in the illegal sale of snake venom.
She said her NGO People for Animals (PFA) was keeping a watch on Yadav for as long as he used snakes in his YouTube videos.
Retaliating, Yadav sought an apology saying he was shocked to see people on “such (senior) posts make such accusations. “Madam should also be prepared to apologise,” he said.
In another post he wondered whether this was how one got a Lok Sabha ticket. “Aise Milte hai ticket Lok Sabha ki,” he said in an apparent jibe against Gandhi, currently the senior-most member of the Lok Sabha.
The BJP leader won her first Lok Sabha election in 1989 from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and was recently also entrusted to speak in the capacity at the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
The FIR has been lodged under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and for criminal conspiracy following a complaint from Gaurav Gupta of the PFA against six people, including Yadav, for allegedly partying at a Noida banquet hall where snake venom was made available, police said.
