October has been a busy month for BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri.
He flitted between Delhi and Rajasthan, watched Ram-Leela performances, and ticked off opposition leaders.
What he didn’t have time for, however, was to appear before Parliament’s privileges committee after he passed Islamophobic comments against BSP MP Danish Ali.
Bidhuri had made the comments during a Lok Sabha session on September 22 during a discussion on Chandrayaan. According to a letter Ali subsequently sent to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Bidhuri used “foul, abusive invectives” including “bhadwa (pimp), katwa (circumcised one), mullah ugravadi (Muslim terrorist), atankvadi (terrorist)”.
Bidhuri’s remarks were expunged from the records even as BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed Ali “instigated” Bidhuri. The privileges committee then sent Bidhuri a notice asking him to appear before it by October 10 and give his statement.
It should be noted that the committee has 14 members of which eight, including chairperson Sunil Kumar Singh, are from the BJP.
October 10 came and went, and Bidhuri did not appear in person. He cited a “pressing commitment” instead. However, the Lok Sabha Secretariat tweeted that Bidhuri provided “oral evidence” to the privileges committee.
The Committee on Privileges met under Chairpersonship of Shri @SunilSingh_BJP, MP & took oral evidence of Shri @rameshbidhuri, MP; senior administrative & police officials of the Govt. of Jharkhand & Bihar in matter of violation of protocol norms & breach of privileges of MPs. pic.twitter.com/gh9juFvEXV
— LOK SABHA (@LokSabhaSectt) October 10, 2023
But what kept Bidhuri so busy that he couldn’t appear before the committee himself? We took a look at his social media for clues.
On October 9, Bidhuri was in south Delhi, attending a meeting attended by officials from the Jal Board, Delhi Development Authority, housing committee, and others.
दक्षिण दिल्ली साकेत ब्लॉक E, D, J, K, L व H के आवासीय समिति के पदाधिकारियों के साथ उपायुक्त निगम श्रीमती एंजेल भाटी, तथा पुलिस डीडीए, जल बोर्ड,पीडब्ल्यूडी निगम अधिकारियों सहित बैठक कर समस्याएँ सुनते जिनमे मुख्य रूप से पार्कों के रखरखाव,पेडों की छंटाई, वॉकिंग ट्रैक बनाने,…
— Ramesh Bidhuri (@rameshbidhuri) October 9, 2023
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/0cvJDbtQvZ
At 6.27 pm that day, he tweeted that he was in Tonk in Rajasthan. Bidhuri is in charge of the district for the Rajasthan assembly elections scheduled for next month. He was appointed days after his comments to Ali.
राजस्थान टोंक जिला प्रवास के दौरान देवली उनियारा विधानसभा के कार्यकर्ताओं के साथ परिचयात्मक मिलन में अभिनंदन स्वीकार कर चर्चा करते हुए।साथ में ज़िला अध्यक्ष श्री राजेंद्र पराणा, पूर्व विधायक श्री राजेन्द्र गुर्जर। pic.twitter.com/sADo4tIBLQ
— Ramesh Bidhuri (@rameshbidhuri) October 9, 2023
What about the days leading up to October 10? After all, he’d been instructed to appear before the committee by that date.
On October 4, he spoke to the media in Delhi about the arrest of AAP’s Sanjay Singh. A day later, he met with party workers in Tonk where he also gave an interview to News18 India on Singh’s arrest.
By October 7, Bidhuri was back in Delhi, meeting with officials in south Delhi. On October 8, he had a meeting in his Delhi constituency, Ghitorni, and also took some time off to describe Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as “bauna Duryodhan”.
As mentioned before, he left for Rajasthan on the evening of October 9. From Rajasthan, he criticised the Congress party the next day claiming it “supported” Hamas.
कल कांग्रेस ने अपनी राष्ट्रीय कार्यसमिति की बैठक में हमास के समर्थन करने का प्रस्ताव पास किया।
— Ramesh Bidhuri (@rameshbidhuri) October 10, 2023
इससे कांग्रेस की मानसिकता उजागर हुई है कैसे वो एक समुदाय विशेष के वोट के लिए आतंकवाद का समर्थन कर रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/weRRyEEvb0
Bidhuri seems to have stayed in Rajasthan for a day or two, returning to Delhi on October 13 to attend the recitation of Bhagwat Katha.
दक्षिणी दिल्ली संगमविहार F ब्लॉक में आयोजित श्रीमद् भागवत कथा में व्यास जी का आशिर्वाद ग्रहण कर भक्तों जनों को संबोधित करते हुए।साथ श्री जगदीश प्रजापति जी,श्री महेश मिश्रा, श्री विनोद झा जी। pic.twitter.com/GW3y2149Mp
— Ramesh Bidhuri (@rameshbidhuri) October 13, 2023
On October 14, 15 and 16, he visited Prahladpur, Madhu Vihar and Greater Noida, and Tughlakabad respectively to watch stagings of the Ram-Leela.
On October 17 and 18, he was back in Tonk to meet with party workers.
It should be noted that Bidhuri’s own party sent him a showcause notice for his comments against Ali. The notice was sent on September 22 and he was expected to reply within 15 days. It’s unclear whether he did so.
Janardan Singh Sigriwal, a BJP MP from Bihar’s Maharajganj and a member of the privileges committee, told Newslaundry that MPs “can take time” to respond to notices “according to their convenience”.
“There is no information about the next meeting,” he added.
Another member of the committee said, on condition of anonymity, that Bidhuri “may be summoned” after Dussehra.
“The privileges committee does not have the power to compel someone to appear,” they said. “But this is not the first time that someone has refused to appear.”
Committee chairperson Sunil Kumar Singh did not respond to our requests for comment. Neither did Bidhuri.
This report was first published in Newslaundry Hindi. It was translated to English by Utkarsh Sharma.
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