BJP’s alliance partner JD(U), meanwhile, reacted sharply, with its spokesperson Neeraj Kumar calling Haribhushan Thakur’s comments “preposterous and inflammatory”.
Santosh Singh, Patna: BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur from Bisfi, in Bihar’s Madhubani district, on Friday reiterated the need to take away voting rights of Muslims, prompting the party’s state unit to issue him a showcause notice to explain his remarks.
BJP’s alliance partner JD(U), meanwhile, reacted sharply, with its spokesperson Neeraj Kumar calling Thakur’s comments “preposterous and inflammatory”.
The legislator had made similar comments on Thursday.
On Friday, he told the media: “As Muslims were given a separate country at the time of Partition in 1947, they should leave for Pakistan. And if they live in India, they should live like second-class citizens. We urge the government to take away Muslims’ voting rights.”
Thakur alleged that Muslims have an agenda — that of making India “an Islamist state”.
Thakur, known for making controversial remarks, also said that Muslims MLAs should also face action from the Bihar Assembly Speaker if they refuse to sing ‘Vande Mataram’. “What is the national song (for), after all? It is to worship the Earth, flowers and water. Will they (Muslims) stop drinking water (if they refuse to sing Vande Mataram),” he asked.
JD(U)’s Neeraj Kumar said, “It seems Thakur has no knowledge of Indian citizenship. Who is he to decide citizenship of people living in India? He is not going to get any political mileage; he just wants to get media attention.”
BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal said, “We have already dissociated ourselves from Thakur’s statement and served him a notice to explain why he said what he said.”
Guru Prakash Paswan, a BJP national spokesperson, said: “This is absolutely unwarranted. Through our policies, we have ensured that government schemes are reaching to the last person in line regardless of gender, caste and religion. Our perspective is inclusive in nature…”
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