NCP demands action against BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri over his remarks in Lok Sabha

Clyde Crasto. File Pic

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday demanded that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla take action against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for his remarks on the floor of the Lower House, reported news agenct PTI.

"What is very disgusting is BJP MPs Harsh Vardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad were laughing instead of stopping or correcting Bidhuri from speaking in such a manner," Clyde Crasto, national spokesperson of NCP's Sharad Pawar-led group, told reporters.

Crasto wondered why Bidhuri had still not been suspended. "The Speaker must take action immediately. Will the BJP suspend him from the party or will they give him a promotion," asked Crasto.

Bidhuri's remarks targeting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member Kunwar Danish Ali during a discussion on the "success of Chandrayaan-3" in the Lok Sabha triggered a furore, with opposition leaders calling for strict action against him.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday took "serious note" of certain objectionable remarks made by Bidhuri in the House and warned him of "strict action" if such behaviour is repeated in the future, officials said.

"Just a warning for this kind of behaviour and language? Why is this leniency being accorded? Is it because he is from the BJP," asked Crasto.

The Defence Minister had expressed regret in the House immediately after Bidhuri made the objectionable remarks on Thursday night.

Earlier, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday charged that the alleged deletion of words "socialist" and "secular" from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution presented to MPs on the opening day of the new Parliament building showed the "biased mindset" of the ruling BJP, reported news agency PTI.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the words "secular" and "socialist" were missing from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution given to lawmakers. However, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the copies carried the original version of the Preamble of the Constitution and that these words were added later to it after constitutional amendments.

In a statement, Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party's spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, "The BJP government says that this printed text was the original Preamble. If BJP does not want to respect the constitutional amendment of the Preamble and wants to follow the original, then why have they moved out from the original 'Temple of Democracy', the old Parliament building? Why did they not stay in the original one?," reported PTI.

Removing the words 'socialist' and 'secular' is truly a display of BJPs biased mindset, he alleged.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should stop fooling the people of India with their absurd replies because people know what they are trying to really achieve," Crasto said.

(With inputs from PTI)