A DAY AFTER the BJP issued a show cause notice to contain the damage arising from the remarks by its Lok Sabha MP Ramesh Bidhuri against BSP leader Danish Ali on the floor of the House, a BJP MP was on the front line and on the offensive.
And there was little surprise about who it was – Nishikant Dubey. On Saturday, the BJP MP from Godda, Jharkhand, wrote to Speaker Om Birla claiming a number of instances of “unsavoury remarks” by Opposition leaders, and sought an “inquiry committee to investigate the utterances” made by various members during the discussion on the Chandrayaan 3 Mission, during which Bidhuri made the offensive remarks, suggesting that the BJP MP was “instigated”.
Dubey said the aspect of breach of privilege raised by Ali and others on the issue “cannot be applied in isolation as otherwise there will be a serious and irrevocable ‘miscarriage of justice’”.
It wasn’t the first time in the recent past that the three-time MP was taking the lead in the House for the party. It was Dubey who was the surprise choice of the party last week as the lead speaker during the debate on the women’s reservation Bill in the Lok Sabhawhen everyone expected the BJP to hand over the baton to one of its 41 women MPs (the most for any party in the House). Particularly as the BJP was keen to project the Bill as another example of the Narendra Modi government’s pro-women measures.
As soon as Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi had finished her speech initiating the debate, the BJP fielded Dubey to set off the proceedings from its side.
Dubey was there for a reason. Part of the shouting brigade of the BJP, he has emerged as a fierce critic of the Gandhis and also opened for the party last month during arguments on the no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
BJP leaders point to the fact that Dubey spoke on the women’s reservation Bill debate right after Sonia who, in her speech, referred to the role her husband, the late Rajiv Gandhi, had played in women’s empowerment via the quota for them in panchayat bodies.
In his speech, Dubey did not disappoint the BJP side. He harked back to incidents in Parliament during a debate on reservation in promotions in 2012, when the Congress-led UPA government was in power. “In this same House, V Narayanasamy was presenting a Bill on promotional quota for SCs/STs. Samajwadi Party SC leader Yashvir Singh snatched the Bill from his hand and tore it down. In this same Parliament, Madam Sonia Gandhiji was the first to come to pull him by his collar… At that time, I told her (Sonia Gandhi) you are not our dictator, not a queen, you cannot resort to violence… Mulayam Singh Yadav said that had the BJP not been there, SP MPs would not have survived. You tried to kill the MPs.”
After Dubey’s remarks Wednesday, some from the Congress protested, but Sonia, engaged in a conversation with her party colleagues, did not appear to have understood what he was saying.
During the no-confidence motion, Dubey alleged that China was giving money to the Congress to oppose the Central government and that the Gandhis had met the Chinese in 2016 to oppose the Narendra Modi government. He added: “This no-confidence motion has been brought. Why has this been brought up? Soniaji (Gandhi) is sitting here… I think she has two things to do — Bete ko set karna hai, aur damad ko bhent karna hai (She has to settle her son, and help her son-in-law)… That is the base of this motion.”
The remarks set off a controversy, after they were first expunged and then restored. The Congress, which called the remarks baseless and libellous, said the move to restore the remarks was unprecedented and an “extraordinary phenomenon”.
Dubey has also earned his stripes by honing his knowledge on points of order – that is, drawing attention to violation of rules by an MP – to take on the Opposition. Senior ministers can be seen using his help to draw the attention of the Chair if they suspect a violation.
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Still, BJP MPs admit in private, the choice of Dubey to lead the party debate on the women’s reservation Bill came as a surprise. According to party leaders, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who appreciates Dubey’s skills, picked him to lead the debate. In fact, when the Opposition questioned the BJP over the fact that a woman MP was not fielded as the first speaker on the Bill by the BJP, Shah rose up to defend Dubey, asking: “Can men not speak up for women?”
Asked about why he was picked, Dubey told The Indian Express: “It was the party’s decision. My party gave me the responsibility, and I was just following it.”
As for the other parties, while Sonia Gandhi was the first speaker for the Congress, M Kanimozhi spoke for the DMK, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar for the TMC, Vanga Geeta Viswanath for the YSRCP), Rajashree Mallick for the BJD, Bhavna Gawli for the Shinde Shiv SenaVeena Devi for the LJP, Supriya Sule for the NCP, Dimple Yadav for the SP, Sangeeta Azad for the BSP, Harsimrat Kaur for the Akali Dal, and Anupriya Patel for the Apna Dal.
