New Delhi: The subject has been brought to the Privileges Committee a week after BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri used racial slurs against a Muslim MP in the Lok Sabha, inciting uproar and criticism of his party and the Speaker for not taking action against him.
The decision was made on Thursday, one day after Mr. Bidhuri was given the responsibility of organizing the BJP’s election campaign in a crucial Rajasthan district that is close to voting. The opposition said that he was being “rewarded” for inciting hatred, which had opened another box of worms.
Last week, during the special session of the Lok Sabha, Mr. Bidhuri unleashed a torrent of offensive and racial slurs against Danish Ali, an MP for the Bahujan Samaj Party. He was speaking in the new Parliament building. The opposition denounced the comments, and the Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, and NCP wrote to Speaker Om Birla to seek swift disciplinary action against the MP.
However, Mr. Birla had threatened Mr. Bidhuri with “strict action” if he continued the behavior.
Nishikant Dubey of the BJP said that the case has been sent to the Privileges Committee and thanked the Speaker for doing so. In the same statement, he attacked the opposition and said that previous administrations had failed to punish disloyal MPs, including former Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
In an earlier statement, Mr. Dubey said that Sonia Gandhi had “tried to grab the collar” of a Samajwadi Party member amid the commotion in the Parliament in 2012 during a discussion on quotas for promotions. And two days after the Mr. Bidhuri incident, he had charged Danish Ali with inciting the BJP MP to utter the statements.
The BJP, which had previously warned Mr. Bidhuri for his derogatory comments, appointed him to head the party’s election campaign in Rajasthan’s Tonk district on Wednesday. Being a member of the Gurjar community, he may be able to help the party get support for one of the four seats in the district, which is currently held by Sachin Pilot, a former deputy chief minister who now represents the Congress.
