Akhilesh Yadav demands Bidhuri's prosecution, 'lifetime ban' over hate speech

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday condemned the derogatory remarks aimed at BSP MP Danish Ali by the BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri in the Lok Sabha, saying that this called for the lawmaker's prosecution and a "lifetime ban".

BJP MP Bidhuri made the remarks on Thursday during a discussion on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Without naming Ali or Bidhuri in a post on X, Yadav said a person is defined by the way one speaks.

He said the manner in which a BJP lawmaker, intoxicated by power, addressed an MP from the minority community is "no less than an incident of crime".

Yadav added that other BJP MPs were seen laughing when the remarks were made, calling the episode the "worst form of the BJP's negative politics".

This showed it was not the fault of one BJP lawmaker but a display of "shamelessness" by a majority of its members.

"Such MPs should be prosecuted and banned for life for defaming not just any individual MP but the entire Parliament and the Constitution, without any waiver of parliamentary privileges," he said.

Yadav later told reporters, "Danish Ali is not only a BSP MP. It should not be forgotten that he was elected when the BSP was in an alliance with the Samajwadi Party." The Samajwadi Party and the BSP contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in an alliance in Uttar Pradesh.

A video of Bidhuri's controversial references to the Muslim MP has gone viral and the opposition parties have demanded strict action against him, including suspension from the House.

Speaker Om Birla later expunged those words. Union Minister Rajnath Singh had expressed regret for the remarks.

The BJP on Friday issued a show cause notice to Bidhuri for the words.

Ali represents Amroha in the Lok Sabha while Bidhuri is the MP from South Delhi.