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The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Tuesday said South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri had provided “oral evidence” to the Privileges Committee in connection with allegations of breach of privilege in the House. Bidhuri triggered a political storm last month over communal slurs against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali.
“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,” the Lok Sabha Secretariat tweeted.
Bidhuri is currently in the district of Tonk in Rajasthan, where he is the poll in-charge, canvassing for the party. “I was supposed to be in Rajasthan for a three-day pravas (stay) starting the ninth till the 11th as per a pre-scheduled commitment and I am here for that,” Bidhuri told The Indian Express.
The Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha had asked Bidhuri for “oral evidence” about complaints received from several MPs against him and Ali for “alleged improper conduct during the discussion on Chandrayaan-3 mission in the House”. A day after the special session of Parliament ended, the BJP also sent a show-cause notice.
While several opposition MPs had demanded action against Bidhuri, some BJP members alleged Ali incited Bodhuri and also made objectionable remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bidhuri’s politics
A two-term MP, Bidhuri has been a three-time MLA of the Delhi Assembly. He belongs to a prominent family of Tughlakabad that has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for decades. His family is also said to have contributed significantly to the area’s development.
Bidhuri made his electoral debut in the Delhi Assembly election in 1993 from the Tughlakabad seat but lost. He was unsuccessful five years later but held the constituency for three straight terms starting in 2003, and entered Parliament from South Delhi in 2014.
He has been a controversial figure. In 2015, five women MPs from the Congress, CPI(M), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in a complaint to then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan accused Bidhuri of “abusive behaviour” and using “sexist, abusive and derogatory” language in the House. In 2020, a video of Bidhuri went viral in which he was heard using derogatory language about farmers protesting against the Centre’s now-repealed farm laws at Delhi’s borders.
By deploying Bidhuri in Tonk, the BJP will look to utilise him in a region that has a sizable Muslim population. At present, the Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM is also looking to make inroads in Tonk. Also, like Congress leader Sachin Pilot, the MLA from Tonk Assembly seat in the district, the BJP MP is a Gujjar. Tonk has a significant population of Bidhuri Gujjars. Apart from attracting Hindu votes, Bidhuri will look to draw the votes of the Gujjars disenchanted with the Congress’s treatment of Pilot, who has spent the better part of the past five years in a feud with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot but has now seemingly buried the differences.
Of the four Assembly seats in Tonk, the BJP currently holds only one, Kanhaiya Lal in Malpura. Deoli-Uniara is held by the Congress’s Harish Chandra Meena, Niwai by the party’s Prashant Bairwa and Tonk by Pilot. While Pilot’s seat seems safe, Hindu-Muslim polarisation may affect the other three seats in the district. Tonk-Sawai Madhopur MP Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria and Kanhaiya Lal have FIRs registered against them, including for inciting riots.
