Shillong, September 27: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who recently stirred controversy with abusive remarks against BSP MP Danish Ali in Parliament, as the party’s election in-charge for the Tonk constituency in Rajasthan.
India Today reported, this decision has surfaced amidst speculation that Congress leader Sachin Pilot may contest from Tonk, a stronghold for him, in the upcoming Rajasthan Legislative Assembly elections scheduled to be held in or before November this year.
The controversy surrounding Bidhuri emerged when he made objectionable anti-Muslim comments against Danish Ali during a Lok Sabha discussion on the Chandrayaan-3 mission. His remarks were subsequently expunged after sparking outrage.
Opposition Congress called on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to take action against Bidhuri, with at least four opposition parties urging the Speaker to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee.
Kodikunnil Suresh MP, who presided over the session when Bidhuri made the comments, also wrote to the Speaker, demanding the immediate suspension of Bidhuri.
In a letter to the Speaker, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury decried the use of such words against a member of a minority community as unprecedented in the history of Parliament.
Danish Ali condemned the incident as an “attack against the Constitution and democracy,” characterizing it as an attempt to bring hatred from the streets into the Parliament.
In response to the controversy, the BJP issued a show cause notice to Bidhuri regarding his remarks.