UP official expresses regret for announcing Rs 1 crore offer to behead TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh

Sikandrabad Nagar Palika Chairman Dr Pradeep Dixit expressed regret for announcing Rs 1 core offer to behead TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh.

Dixit said he does not believe in violence and that his remarks were made in anguish after seeing a social media post that he believed insulted Lord Shiva.

In a statement he said he does not believe in violence and said he later came to know that the social media post involving Ghosh was from 2015 and that the MP had already expressed regret over it.

"I do not believe in violence, nor is violence part of my nature," he said.

"In that context, I also express regret," Dixit said, adding that he comes from a tradition that teaches compassion and respect for all living beings.

"We belong to a tradition that waters trees, feeds birds and even offers sugar to ants. I appeal to people that no one should insult gods, saints or prophets," he said.

Dixit further said that the religious sentiments of many people were hurt through the social media post linked to Ghosh.

"But I didn't know that she had already apologised for hurting religious sentiments. In that context, I also express regret," he said.

On Tuesday Saayoni Ghosh took to her X account and said she was taken aback after seeing the public announcement.

"I am taken aback to see a public announcement offering a 1 crore reward for my beheading, issued by none other than a Nagar Palika Chairman and BJP leader from Sikandrabad, UP. This threat is circulating widely across social media platforms and has been reported in the mainstream media," she wrote in a post.

"This threat is circulating widely across social media platforms and has been reported in the mainstream media. My question to honourable Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Nitin Nabin and Om Birla: Is declaring a bounty to behead a woman, a sitting Member of Parliament -- issued by a BJP public representative in a BJP-ruled state -- the true idea of 'Nari Shakti Vandan' in New Bharat?" her post read.

(With PTI inputs)