Row on Bidhuri’s remarks on Ali continues
The video of the bigoted attack, which took place during a discussion on the success of Chandrayaan-3 on Thursday, went viral on Friday
Amid the Opposition’s uproar against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for his religious taunts to BSP MP Danish Ali, another BJP lawmaker in Lok Sabha, Nishikant Dubey claimed on Saturday that Ali allegedly provoked Bidhuri by targeting the PM.
While Ali and other Opposition leaders cited video footage of Bidhuri calling Ali a Bhadwa (pimp), Katwa (circumcised) and Mullah Atankvadi (Muslim terrorist), Dubey’s allegations were not immediately supported by any proof. In a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Dubey maintained that Bidhuri used “inappropriate” and said, “whatever Ramesh Bidhuri uttered in the House on that date against another member of Parliament was inappropriate and I also oppose the usage of any such words by any MP against another member or their religious-cultural beliefs.”
But Dubey went on to claim that during the entire speech of Bidhuri, “Danish Ali, MP indulged in a “running commentary” and also made unsavoury remarks towards one and all with a view to disrupt Bidhuri and also to instigate him into “losing his calm and composure” and stop him from expressing his views in the House.”
In his letter to Speaker, Dubey also claimed “when Danish Ali was busy instigating Bidhuri with his intemperate comments, he made a highly objectionable and derogatory remark against PM Narendra Modi. In his desperation to denigrate the ruling dispensation and the PM’s achievement on landing Chandrayaan 3 on the moon, he screamed across the isle without the microphone but could be clearly heard saying that “Neech ko neech nehi kahenge toh kya kahenge.”
“This statement made by Ali, was more than enough for any patriotic public representative to “lose his calm” and it led to Bidhuri responding to him like he did,” said the BJP MP who also claimed that Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Ray questioned the existence of Ram and Pushpak Viman and DMK claimed there is no God.
On Thursday, Bidhuri kicked up a controversy for targeting fellow Lok Sabha member Ali with religious slurs and phrases that amount to hate speech during the momentous session in the new Parliament building this week.
The video of the bigoted attack, which took place during a discussion on the success of Chandrayaan-3 on Thursday, went viral on Friday and provoked outrage from other parliamentarians, some of whom -- including Ali – sought action over breach of parliamentary privilege.
The remarks were expunged by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who also issued a stern warning to Bidhuri, saying “any recurrence of such behaviour in future” will lead to strict action. But other leaders said that this action was inadequate and warranted a suspension at the very least.
The BJP issued a notice to Bidhuri to explain his conduct within 10 days and in a statement issued later, without naming Bidhuri, said it had taken immediate action and sought to questioned the opposition why it did not take similar measures.
“Today some BJP leaders are trying to run a narrative that I provoked Shri Ramesh Biduri in the Parliament, whereas the truth is that I worked to save the dignity of the post of Prime Minister and made the Chairman aware of the highly objectionable words related to Modi Ji. Had demanded his removal from the proceedings of the House,” Danish Ali said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.