NEW DELHI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Tuesday sternly disapproved of the action of
BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya in hitting a municipal official in Indore with a cricket bat, saying such people do not deserve to stay in the party irrespective of whose children they are.
Speaking at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party, Modi drew a thick red line for party cadres, referring to the “incident in Indore” and saying such behaviour was totally unacceptable. “This nivedan, avedan, danadan is not part of BJP culture,” the PM said, quoting the MLA’s description of his actions.
The comments came in the presence of the MLA’s father — senior leader
Kailash Vijayvargiya. BJP sources said disciplinary action against Akash is on the anvil following Modi’s remarks.
PM signals zero tolerance on indiscipline
This is the second time in recent weeks that the Prime Minister has reacted sharply to the behaviour or comments of party leaders. He had condemned the comments of Bhopal MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Karnataka MPs Anant Hegde and Nalin Kateel praising Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.
Modi had said that while the MPs had offered regret, he would not be able to forgive them from his heart. Subsequently Hegde was excluded from the council of ministers and the MPs were warned that they needed to watch their behaviour.
On Tuesday, Modi said he would not tolerate behaviour like what was seen in Indore anymore. His comments are expected to be seen as a fairly unambiguous signal that stepping out of line will not be without risks and party motormouths need to pay heed that controversial actions will be frowned upon.
Indicating that he was running out of patience with acts of indiscipline, he said, “Manmaani nahi chalegi. Whoever it may be, whoever’s son he may be... such arrogance, misbehaviour cannot be tolerated and action should be taken against them,” Modi said.
Previously, the Prime Minister had been unhappy with Vijayvargiya suggesting his son’s candidature for Parliament.
What might have aggravated the case was the “welcome” accorded to the MLA after he was released from judicial custody. Perhaps sensing the need for damage control, he had said he would follow the “Gandhian” path. His father had refused to condemn or criticise his son’s actions, choosing to put them down to inexperience.
Speaking to the media, party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy quoted Modi as saying that such conduct was “totally unacceptable”. “The Prime Minister was quite upset and unhappy and his message was for the entire party and not any specific individual,” Rudy said.
On a question if Modi suggested disciplinary action, Rudy said, “He said if somebody behaves in such a way, action should be taken against him. He made his feelings clear.”
“If somebody commits a mistake, there should be a sense of regret as well,” the PM is understood to have said.
Modi said BJP leaders have toiled hard for generations to bring success to the party and such arrogance brings it a bad name.
After the meeting, parliamentary affairs minister
Pralhad Joshi
told reporters that Modi, along with party chief
Amit Shah and party working president J P Nadda, were felicitated for the massive win in the
Lok Sabha
polls.
“Had a great BJP Parliamentary Party meet earlier today. A wide range of issues were discussed. Looking forward to a fruitful session ahead,” the PM tweeted later.
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