BJP show-cause notice to its MP Ramesh Bidhuri as BSP leader says called a ‘terrorist
BJP show-cause notice to its MP Ramesh Bidhuri as BSP leader says called a ‘terrorist’ in LS
m.u.h
23/09/2023245
A DAY after the Modi government wrapped up the special session of Parliament on a high note with the passage of the women’s reservation Bill, it found itself trying to contain the fallout of the derogatory remarks made by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri against BSP leader Danish Ali on the floor of the Lok Sabha.
In his letter to Speaker Om Birla seeking action against Bidhuri, Ali said among the words the BJP South Delhi MP used against him were “Bhadwa (pimp), Katwa (circumcised one),Mullah ugravadi (Muslim terrorist) atankvadi ( terrorist) etc”. Birla has expunged the remarks, made late on Thursday evening during a discussion on the Chandrayaan 3 mission, and issued a warning to Bidhuri.
Later on Friday, the BJP issued a show-cause notice to the MP, who is known for his provocative remarks, seeking a reply in 10 days as to why action should not be taken against him.
The Opposition, which is planning to write to Birla seeking that the matter be referred to the Lok Sabha Privileges Committee, called it “the blackest day in the history of Parliament” and demanded that the BJP suspend Bidhuri. The CPI(M) demanded that Bidhuri be arrested for “hate speech”. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the remarks called for his prosecution and a “lifetime ban”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called on Danish Ali in a gesture of support.
Ali said that if action was not taken against Bidhuri, he could consider quitting from the House. People had not elected him to listen to “hate speeches”, the BSP MP from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh said.
The controversy comes 14 months after the BJP expelled two prominent faces from the party for remarks against Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim community, which threatened to cast a shadow on the Modi government’s overtures towards the Middle East.
Asked about action against Bidhuri, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said: “The party condemns any kind of abusive language. Taking cognisance of an unparliamentary word used by a BJP MP, the party’s national president has sent him a show-cause notice and asked him to respond in 10 days. So, politicising this issue should be stopped.”
BJP leaders said that with the show-cause notice to Bidhuri, the top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wanted “a strong message to go to party leaders that such language was not tolerated”. Party sources said the high command did not appreciate the “provocative outburst” at a time when the PM and the BJP are hoping to leverage the G20 Summit success for global gains, and when the government is celebrating the success of Chandrayaan and the women’s reservation Bill.
BJP leaders also pointed out that soon after Bidhuri made the remarks in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who was present immediately apologised to the House. “He apologised as the Deputy Leader of the House and ensured smooth functioning of the proceedings,” a source in the BJP said.
After Opposition leaders pointed out that BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad and Harsh Vardhan who were seated behind Bidhuri in the Lok Sabha seemed to be laughing, both distanced themselves from their colleague’s remarks. Prasad said he does not support any “indecent comment”, while Harsh Vardhan issued a detailed statement, saying some people with vested interests had “dragged” his name into the row.
“While I was no doubt witness to the jugglery of words being thrown at each other (which in fact the entire House was), the truth of the matter is that in the chaos that existed, I could not clearly hear what was being said,” Harsh Vardhan, a former Union minister, wrote on X, while pointing out that he was elected from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, a constituency with a significant population of Muslims.
In a post on X, Prasad said: “We have always supported dignified conduct inside and outside Parliament, and I myself also follow it.”
Tagging “brother” Bidhuri, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi posted Kabir’s doha ‘Aisi vaani boliye, man ka aapa khoye / Auran ko sheetal kare, aaphun sheetal hoye’, roughly meaning that one should be conscious of what one says, and only use words which give peace to oneself and others.
Ali told The Indian Express that he had drawn the Speaker’s attention to the remarks, which were made sometime after 10 pm in the Lok Sabha, while the debate over the women’s reservation Bill was on in the Rajya Sabha. “The BJP MP was speaking. During the speech, he said some people wanted Prime Minister Modi to die like a dog. I intervened and asked him that no one said that about the honourable Prime Minister. Then he called me names which included ‘terrorist’. I want to ask RSS chief Mohan Bhagwatji, what is taught in their shakhas? Is this what they learn in Prime Minister Modiji’s pathshala?”
In his letter to the Speaker, Ali wrote: “I write to you with deep anguish regarding the speech given in the Lok Sabha by an MP of the BJP, Mr Ramesh Bidhuri… During the course of his speech, he directed the most foul, abusive invectives against me… Among the words he directed against me were Bhadwa (pimp), Katwa (circumcised one), Mullah ugravadi (Muslim terrorist), atankvadi ( terrorist) etc… The fact that it has happened in a new Parliament building under your leadership as Speaker is truly heartbreaking for me as a minority member of this great nation and an elected Member of Parliament as well.”
Ali requested the Speaker to take “cognisance of this foul conduct on the floor of the House and take appropriate action” against Bidhuri. He also asked that the matter be referred to the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha for prompt action.
When contacted, Bidhuri said he did not want to comment on the House proceedings. An MLA from Delhi, Bidhuri contested his first parliamentary election in 2014, and was re-elected in 2019. It is not the first time he has got into a spat with Opposition members over remarks on the floor of the House.
Criticising the BJP, with a video clipping of Bidhuri’s speech attached, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra posted: “Keeper of Maryada @ombirlakota Vishwaguru @narendramodi & BJP Prez @JPNadda… any action please?… Abusing Muslims, OBCs an integral part of BJP culture – most now see nothing wrong with it. @narendramodi has reduced Indian Muslims to living in such a state of fear in their own land that they grin & bear everything.”
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah told ANI: “This shows what they (the BJP) think about Muslims.” RJD MP Manoj Jha said: “We need to think that if such words were used for an MP in Parliament, then to what kind of language against Muslims, Dalits is legitimacy being given?”
The Aam Aadmi Party called it the blackest day in the history of Parliament.
“It is an absolute shame what Bidhuri has said. Rajnath Singh’s apology is simply not acceptable. It is a half-hearted apology… If this is not a case for suspension of Bidhuri, then what is? Bidhuri has spoken in a language which is an insult to every MP, not just Danish Ali,” Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh said.
BJP spokespserson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that while the BJP had served Bidhuri a notice, “we want to know if those who raise questions at us had taken any action over the abuses and expletives used against our Prime Minister and even party president”.
