Nishikant Dubey wants Shashi Tharoor disqualified from Lok Sabha for his tweets on ‘Indian variant’ of Covid

BJP leader Nishikant Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asking him to disqualify Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from the Lower House. Dubey, who has targeted Tharoor in the past as well, claimed the Thiruvananthapuram MP “surpassed all the limits of responsible behaviour” when he referred to B.1.617 as the “Indian variant” of coronavirus.

Dubey has repeatedly criticised Tharoor on a number of issues, most of them linked to the Information Technology committee, which Tharoor chairs and he is a member of. He has on many occasions sought removal of Tharoor as the panel chairman.

In his letter to Birla on Monday, Dubey wrote, “Tharoor, who is a member of the Indian Parliament and has rich diplomatic experience, used the word ‘Indian Variant’ when WHO has itself said that there is no such variant. As per WHO, the nomenclature for this variant is B.1.617. It is beyond my comprehension why an Indian MP would use language that is unscientific and derogatory towards Indians. When the Government of India has already written to all social media platforms to remove usage of this word, it is embarrassing to note that a member of our esteemed Lok Sabha uses such discourse to shame the country and its people.”