From calling Rahul Gandhi 'ghost', 'hermit' to seeking votes even if leaders are criminals: Nishikant Dubey and his saga of controversies

Here are all the times the BJP MP has made statements that attracted ire.

The BJP on Saturday disassociated itself from the criticism of the Supreme Court by its MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma, with party president J P Nadda rejecting the comments as their personal views. "The BJP has nothing to do with the comments of MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the chief justice. This is their personal comments but the BJP neither agrees with them nor does it ever support such remarks. The BJP absolutely rejects them," Nadda said in a post on X.

Earlier in the day, fourth-term BJP MP Dubey, one of the more vocal party members in the Lok Sabha, launched a broadside against the Supreme Court, saying Parliament and state assemblies should be closed down if the apex court has to make the laws.

This is not the first time Dubey has landed in the centre of a controversy over his remarks. Here are all the other times the BJP MP has made statements that attracted ire.

March 24, 2025: 'Supreme Court tends to intervene in matters it shouldn't in'

Dubey's recent comments are not the first time the BJP MP has taken a dig at the apex court. Last month, Dubey alleged that the Supreme Court in India tended to intervene in matters where it shouldn't and cited adjudication in cryptocurrency and online gaming and betting. "When Shaktikanta Das was the RBI governor, he repeatedly stated that cryptocurrency is not a legal tender. However, in India, even the Supreme Court tends to intervene in matters where it shouldn't. As a result, cryptocurrency exchanges continue to operate, and transactions keep happening," Dubey had said.

September 25, 2024: 'ISI, China skewing Waqf bill feedback'

Raising concern over the staggering number of feedback -- nearly 1.25 crore submissions -- received by the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, BJP member Nishikant Dubey called for a home ministry probe, including into the possible role of Pakistan's ISI and China. In a letter to the committee's chairperson Jagdambika Pal, he said the investigation must also cover the possible roles of fundamentalist organisations, individuals like radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, and foreign powers such as the ISI and China, besides their proxies. Dubey told Pal that it is essential to ask whether foreign entities, organisations, and individuals may be deliberately orchestrating this "flood of responses to manipulate the democratic process".

August 6, 2024: 'Rahul Gandhi hermit, does not have caste'

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raked up the caste remarks made by former Union minister Anurag Thakur in the Lok Sabha against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and said the Congress leader does not have a caste. "The allegation he made about caste is wrong.... There is no caste. He (Gandhi) says, I am not what I appear.... So he is a hermit," the member of Parliament from Godda in Jharkhand said.

"It is said that you should not ask about the caste of a hermit," he added

December 6, 2023: 'No backward class CM left in Congress'

Dubey claimed that after the defeat of defeat of Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel in state elections, there were no OBC CMs left in the Congress. “They (Congress) tell lies and give long speeches, saying that there should be caste-based reservation and that they make them [persons belonging to backward classes] chief ministers. Today Bhupesh Baghelji has been removed. Ashok Gehlotji has been removed. The chief minister that they have now is Revanth Reddy (who will take oath as Telangana CM on Thursday). Is he backward? The chief minister that is remaining, Sukhu (Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal Pradesh), is he backward?" Dubey had reportedly said.

October 27, 2023: 'Dubai Didi' Mahua Moitra

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had taken a jibe at TMC MP Mahua Moitra for misspelling his name as 'Dubai' in a letter to Ethics Committee chairman Vinod Sonkar, and mocked her by calling her 'Dubai didi'.

When Moitra had written to the Ethics Committee chairman seeking to postpone her appearance before the panel for examination after November 5, stating that she had prior commitments in her constituency as Durga Puja celebrations continue, she misspelt Dubey's name as 'Dubai'.

Taking a jibe at Moitra over the typo, Dubey said, "The accused MP is so intoxicated by Dubai that even my name has been changed to Dubai in the letter written to the Chairman of the Ethics Committee. By changing my name, 'Mohtarma' has described her mental condition."

In another attack at Moitra over the same cash for query case, Dubey had said: "The question is about the dignity of Parliament, the security of India and the proprietary, corruption and criminality of the said MP," he wrote on X, with hashtags 'degree wali desh beche' (the one who has a degree sells the country) and 'chand paise ke le jamir beche' (sells conscience for few bucks).

February 7, 2023: 'Congress had favoured Tata, Birla, Ambani'

BJP member Nishikant Dubey, countering the allegations levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha against the Narendra Modi government, said that the Congress itself had favoured several industrial houses like the Tata, Birla, and Ambani. Dubey said, “The Congress party had helped the Tata, Birla and Ambani.”

Even some industrialists, who owned large newspapers, were members of the Congress party, he said. Amid objections raised by the Congress member to his speech, Dubey said he was ready to authenticate all documents and resign in case they were found incorrect.

March 21, 2022: 'Russia should not be seen as completely at fault for what is happening in Ukraine'

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey made the remarks in the House during Zero Hour, clarifying a statement he had made in his personal capacity earlier that was expunged. Clarifying the remarks that were expunged, Dubey said, the British had facilitated an agreement under which Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet were buffer states between India and China.

"The USSR's situation was similar to this and when different countries were created out of it, there was an agreement it had with Ukraine that it would never become a member of NATO. It (Russia) saw what happened to India after Tibet became a part of China... The Indian government follows the path of non-violence, but what is happening in Ukraine, Russia should not be seen as completely at fault," he said.

July 29, 2021: 'TMC allergic to Hindi-speaking people, called me Bihari-gunda'

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed that he was called ‘Bihari Gunda’ (goon from Bihar) by TMC MP Mahua Mitra. He asked her to apologise for her alleged remarks. “TMC is allergic to all the Hindi-speaking people that's why they called me 'Bihari Gunda'. This is an attack on Bihar's pride. I have submitted all the facts to the Speaker. She (Mahua Moitra) should apologise”.

December 3, 2019: 'GDP should not be treated as Bible, Ramayan and Mahabharat'

Amid attack by the opposition over the state of the country's economy, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had said in the Lok Sabha that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has no relevance and it should not be treated as 'Bible, Ramayan and Mahabharat'.

"(Economist Simon) Kuznet said it is not the ultimate truth to believe GDP as Bible, Ramayan and Mahabharat and GDP will not be of any great use in future," Dubey said, inviting ridicule from the opposition benches."

"Whoever talks about the GDP is wrong. GDP has no relevance to this country," Dubey said.

Soon after, to protect himself from the social media trolling, Dubey sought censorship on social media.

"I personally urge the government through you (Lok Sabha Speaker) that a law should be made to ban social media to stop such activities," he reportedly said.

October, 2019: 'Support BJP candidate 'be it a disabled person, a thief, dacoit or a criminal'

"Let me just tell you all that whoever the BJP fields, be it a disabled person, a thief, dacoit or a criminal, we must support that candidate at all cost. We should have faith in the decision of party president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Raghubar Das," the BJP MP had said while giving a speech in Jharkhand.

February 8, 2023: 'Rahul Gandhi is ghost, you let a spirit speak'

Speaking in the Parliament, Dubey had mocked Rahul Gandhi by calling him a ghost and telling the members that they had just a spirit talk. This came as an attack to Gandhi's earlier statement that said: "Rahul Gandhi is just in your minds, I have killed him. He is long gone. The person you are seeing right now is not Rahul Gandhi, only you are seeing him," the Congress leader had said in a press conference in Haryana during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

(With PTI inputs)