The BJP on Friday issued a show-cause notice to MP Ramesh Bidhuri for his derogatory comments on the floor of the Lok Sabha on Thursday night, where he verbally abused MP Danish Ali with communal slurs. Bidhuri’s comments, which has caused a furore with several Opposition MPs filing privilege complaints against him, were expunged by the Lok Sabha.
Soon after Bidhuri made the comments during a heated exchange with Ali, union defence minister Rajnath Singh rose and expressed his regrets and apologised to the House for the remarks.
Along with Bidhuri, two former ministers of the party – Harsh Vardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad – were dragged into the controversy, when visuals of them smiling led to widespread consternation.
On a post in X, Harsh Vardhan said that he was pained that his name came up in the matter. “I feel sad and humiliated that some people with vested interest have dragged my name into this. 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,” he posted.
This is not the first time that the two-term MP, who has also been an MLA in the Delhi assembly for three terms, had run-ins with the Opposition. In 2015, five women MPs complained to former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan against him alleging that he used sexist remarks. The MPs were Sushmita Dev, Ranjeet Ranjan, Arpita Ghosh, PK Sreemathi Teacher and Supriya Sule.
Published 22 September 2023, 10:26 IST