BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday pulled up the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, saying the party would not “tolerate” communal remarks. The party also served a show cause notice to its MLA Suresh Tiwari, who asked people not to purchase vegetables from Muslim vendors. “Naddaji called up the president of UP BJP and told him that the leadership will not tolerate such remarks. He questioned the state leadership for not taking action against the MLA,” said a source. The Indian Express on Tuesday reported that Tiwari, who represents Barhaj constituency, was heard making a statement in a video to people in Deoria district that they should not buy vegetables from Muslims. “Keep one thing in mind, I am telling everyone openly, no one should purchase vegetables from miyas [Muslims],” he is seen saying. When contacted, Tiwari said he had made the statement last week during a visit to the office of Barhaj Nagar Palika as he had received complaints that people of a community were selling vegetables after contaminating them with saliva to spread coronavirus. “The leadership found the comments were highly irresponsible and that the state unit should have taken immediate action,” said the source. Nadda told UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh to take action against Tiwari immediately, sources said.
