Dhami Calls the Mehndi Brothers 'Good Friends' as He Defuses the Stage Row

Dhami Calls the Mehndi Brothers "Good Friends" as He Defuses the Stage Row

A minister stops a singer mid-performance

On the night of Sunday, October 18, at a cultural evening in New Tehri, Tehri Garhwal, a cabinet minister walked onto the stage and told Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi to stop performing. Subodh Uniyal, the forest minister and Narendra Nagar MLA, told the 59-year-old singer that singing after drinking during a Navratri Durga Mata programme was inappropriate: "We called you so that our people could be entertained. You are making a fool of us." Mehndi, hands folded, replied: "Sir, please leave the stage." The Hindu reported the row began over whether he was singing live or lip-syncing to a backing track; the video spread on October 19.

The minister's account

Uniyal has framed the intervention as a question about the performance. He told The Indian Express that Mehndi appeared to be lip-syncing, and that as a local representative on the organising committee he faced pressure from people who wanted the matter questioned. He told Hindustan Times the artiste had received a full advance of Rs 35 lakh, hotels had been booked, and that he had "nothing personal against Mehndi" — a big artiste who knew his condition, he said, should have declined to perform.

The singer's brother says it was surgery

Mika Singh, Daler Mehndi's brother, responded with a video on October 20, saying his brother has never touched alcohol and that he would quit singing if anyone could prove otherwise. News18 reported that Mika said his brother had been unwell for two years and had recently undergone a major operation, which may have affected his ability to sing and stand. Times of India carried BJP MP Nikhil Kher, who said he has known Mehndi for 25 to 30 years, that he had not been keeping well for two or three years, and that "nobody should speak to anybody like this and that also on a public forum."

"Both are good friends of mine"

On October 22, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stepped in. At a press conference he said he would speak to both brothers, adding: "I am friends with both of them." Uttarakhand, he said, "is a land of artists, where everyone is treated with respect," and the matter should be put to rest. Defending Uniyal, Dhami said the minister had clarified he did not intend to insult the singer and was unaware of his condition, so everyone should consider the matter closed. The Indian Express called it a bid to defuse the row; The Tribune led with "Both Mika, Daler Mehndi good friends of mine."

Film workers write to the PM

The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) wrote separately to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to Dhami on October 21, seeking intervention. Telegraph reported that the federation stressed that public representatives and organisers carry a responsibility to handle an artist's health appropriately: "If an artist appears unwell, the priority should be to ensure their well-being, rather than subjecting them to embarrassment before an audience." India Today reported the federation's assessment that Daler Mehndi is not a consumer of alcohol.

The same day, Delhi comes up

Later the same day at the state BJP headquarters in Dehradun, Dhami announced the party's "Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy" drive: marches in Srinagar on October 31, Dehradun on November 2 with an expected turnout of more than 10,000, and Rudrapur on November 3, before similar marches across all 13 districts. Lokmat Times reported that the opposition Congress launched its "Uttarakhand Nyay Yatra" the same day.

At that briefing Dhami also returned to the July protests in Delhi. Swadesi and Lokmat Times both carried his words: some young people had come forward in anger; the children at the front were presented as masks for those behind them; all bounds of propriety had been crossed, and members of the administration had been beaten.

The police case into July's violence

Delhi Police's Crime Branch registered a fresh FIR on October 8 over the violence during the July 20 "Sansad Chalo" march. The Hindu reported that the case covers 2,873 people with criminal records and asks whether the violence was premeditated; the Indian Express added that 989 of them were accused in heinous cases, 101 in murder cases, and at least 42 in two or more murders. The Print reported that the Supreme Court had quashed 17 FIRs and permitted one fresh case; Times of India reported that more than 7,000 protesters were detained at the October 10 gathering.

What comes next

The backdrop is the 2027 Uttarakhand assembly election. The BJP's national campaign runs in two phases, October 22 to November 5 and November 11 to November 30; the Congress is running its Nyay Yatra across all 70 constituencies from October 22 to 25, with a Delhi rally on November 1 and district-level protests on November 4. BBC reported that Delhi Police have said Jantar Mantar will no longer be a designated protest site. Both sides have therefore moved from statements on the street to a calendar of mass mobilisation.

Three things will decide whether the row dies down: whether Dhami's conversations with Mika and Daler Mehndi produce an apology, whether Uniyal formally walks back the drinking claim, and what the July violence investigation turns up among the 2,873 names in the fresh FIR. For now, the immediate question is which side moves first — the singer who was stopped on stage, or the minister who refused to apologise.