The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday served a show cause notice to its Member of Parliament Anantkumar Hegde for comments against Mahatma Gandhi.
Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel said the party has sought an explanation from Hegde on remarks made against Gandhi and the freedom movement.
The former Union minister created a controversy on Saturday during an event in Bengaluru when he said that the freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi was a “drama”.
Hegde labelled the freedom movement led by Gandhi as “not a genuine fight but an adjustment freedom struggle”.
The BJP said it does not approve of Anantkumar Hegde’s comments and that the issue will be referred to a disciplinary committee.
The MP has been asked to tender an unconditional apology for his comments on Mahatma Gandhi by his party, news agency ANI reported on Monday.
The six-time Lok Sabha member’s remark came in for severe criticism from the opposition parties, including Congress which asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his stand clear on Hegde’s comments.
“The only way there can be some penance if the Prime Minister and the BJP government are sincere about commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation. This country needs an answer,” Anand Sharma said during a press conference.
{{/usCountry}}“The only way there can be some penance if the Prime Minister and the BJP government are sincere about commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation. This country needs an answer,” Anand Sharma said during a press conference.
{{/usCountry}}“Parliament is in session. We demand that the Prime Minister comes to the House and makes his position clear by tomorrow,” he said.
This is not the the first time that Anantkumar Hegde has been at the centre of a controversy.
He had labelled former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer S Senthil as a traitor and asked him to “go to Pakistan”. He had also called Congress’ Karnataka unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao as somebody who “went after a Muslim lady”.