Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali on Sunday alleged that after his “verbal lynching” by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri in the Lok Sabha, a narrative was being set for “lynching” him outside the House. He was responding to BJP leader Nishikant Dubey, who accused him of making “unsavoury” remarks to instigate Mr. Bidhuri.
Mr. Bidhuri's derogatory remarks targeting Mr. Ali during a discussion on the success of Chandrayaan-3 in the Lok Sabha on Thursday have sparked a furore, with Opposition leaders calling for stringent action against the BJP MP.
Mr. Dubey had, on Saturday, written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to also probe the alleged "unsavoury" conduct and remarks of Mr. Ali, alleging that the BSP MP had made "highly objectionable and blasphemous" remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi that had provoked Mr. Bidhuri.
‘Narrative for lynching’
Reacting to the allegations, Mr. Ali said, "I have seen Nishikant Dubey's letter. My verbal lynching was done inside the House and now this is a narrative to get me lynched outside the House." He added, "I would request the Speaker to investigate this baseless allegation. This baseless allegation makes a case for breach of privilege against Nishikant Dubey."
Mr. Dubey, meanwhile, reiterated his condemnation of Mr. Bidhuri's comments, saying that any civilised society would not accept it, but claimed that Mr. Ali was a repeat offender and that all evidence of his "misconduct" in the House would now come into the open. He also claimed that the BSP MP was planning to join the Congress, alleging that both were trying to create a "conspiracy" to project that "minorities are not safe" in the country.
‘Baseless allegations’
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Ali said, "As the principle of ‘Res ipsa loquitur’ says 'the thing speaks for itself', the claims of Sh @nishikant_dubey have no basis. What has happened is a blot and absolutely undeniable. Fictionalising the events and playing with the facts will not work this time." On Saturday, he had alleged that some BJP leaders were pushing this narrative that he had instigated Mr. Bidhuri.
"Truth is that I tried to protect the prime minister's dignity and urged the Chair to expunge from the House's records highly objectionable words used about Modi ji," he said, posting a short video of the BJP MP citing derogatory words used by rivals for the PM before abusing the BSP member.
Opposition support
Mr. Ali repeated the allegation on Sunday. "It is on record that Ramesh Bidhuri used derogatory words about the PM and instead Nishikant Dubey is accusing me of it," he said, adding that the real face of the BJP had been exposed.
"What their workers do on the streets, they have now shown what their thinking is in Parliament," he said, slamming the BJP. "Even people from Ramesh Bidhuri's constituency are coming and expressing regret that such a thing happened but the BJP is not feeling ashamed," he said.
Opposition parties have rallied around Mr. Ali and targeted the ruling party on the issue. Several members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party, among others, have written to the Speaker seeking the strictest action against Mr. Bidhuri.
