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In its lists of candidates, BJP sends a clear message with three missing names
PM Modi reiterated his instruction to party leaders to not make at the meeting of the union council of ministers on March 3.
NEW DELHI: The decision by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to not give tickets to sitting Lok Sabha members Pragya Thakur, Ananthkumar Hegde and Ramesh Bidhuri was a clear message on leaders who repeatedly made controversial comments that embarrassed the party, people familiar with the development said.
The three Lok Sabha MPs from Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi had previously been rebuked by the party leadership for their out-of-turn comments that gave the Opposition fodder to attack the BJP government.
A senior BJP leader recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on more than one occasion spoken about the need for party leaders to watch their words and not give anyone an opportunity to attack the party. “While there is democracy and freedom to express, the party leadership’s instruction to all the members is clear; not to violate the party line and discipline,” the leader added.
PM Modi also reiterated the instruction at the meeting of the union council of ministers on March 3.
Ananthkumar Hegde, who represents Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha, has been replaced by Vishweshawar Hegde, a former speaker and six-time MLA.
A BJP leader recalled how the BJP was hugely embarrassed in 2020 by his disparaging comments about Mahatma Gandhi and his role in the freedom struggle. Addressing a public event in Bengaluru, Hegde said the entire freedom movement was “staged with the consent and support of the British”. The BJP had then told Hegde to apologise for the remarks but this wasn’t a first.
Hegde, then a union minister, had to apologise in Parliament in 2017 over his comments on changing the Constitution. While the opposition was up in arms over his controversial remarks, Hegde told Parliament that the Constitution was supreme. “My comment was misunderstood. I respect the Constitution and believe that it is supreme. If, however, my statement has hurt anyone’s sentiment, I have no problems apologising for it.”
He had to apologise the following year as well, this time over his remarks that a majority of people in Karnataka did not really know what he called “proper Kannada”. Hegde said that barring those in Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts, people from other parts of the state did not know proper Kannada, a statement that was sharply criticised by BJP leaders as well.
Ramesh Bidhuri, the South Delhi MP who has been replaced by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, ignited a huge row in September 2023 with religious slurs and phrases that amount to hate speech aimed at fellow MP Danish Ali during a momentous session in the new Parliament building. Defence minister Rajnath Singh quickly expressed regrets over Ramesh Bidhuri’s outrageous remarks but it did not cap the controversy.
In his complaint to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, Danish Ali sought a privilege probe against Bidhuri for “foul, abusive invectives” against him.
Back in 2015 as well, Ramesh Bidhuri’s “abusive and sexist language” had led five women MPs including Ranjita Ranjan, Supriya Sule, Sushmita Dev, PK Shrimati Teacher and Arpita Ghosh to complain to the then Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
Pragya Thakur, who won from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in 2019, previously incurred the wrath of the party leadership for her veneration of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, during the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.
Thakur also said Ashok Chakra awardee and former Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare was killed during the 26/11 attack since he was cursed for arresting her in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
Pragya Thakur was forced to apologise by the BJP. But PM Modi, who had spoken on the controversy following her comments on Mahatma Gandhi, said that while she has apologised and sought forgiveness, “in my heart, I cannot forgive her”.
