BJP MP calls for ‘singeing’ Rahul’s tongue, booked

Nagpur: A first information report (FIR) was registered on Wednesday against Amravati-based BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Bonde over his alleged remarks against leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. Bonde had on Tuesday attacked Gandhi over his comments on reservation made during his recent trip to the United States, saying his tongue should be “singed”.
The development came two days after another Mahayuti leader, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad, was booked for offering a reward a cash reward of ₹11 lakh to anyone who “chopped off” Gandhi’s tongue.
Gandhi had told students at Georgetown University in the US that the Congress would consider scrapping reservation “when India is a fair place”, which it is currently not.
Taking umbrage over the comment and Gaikwad’s call for chopping off Gandhi’s tongue, Bonde told a gathering in Amravati on Tuesday, “What Rahulji said against reservation is dangerous. If anyone speaks anything absurd in a foreign country, then rather than chopping off his tongue, it should be singed.”
People who hurt the feelings of the ‘bahujan’ or the majority, such as Rahul Gandhi, Dnyanesh Maharao and Shyam Manav, must be punished, he noted, adding, “It is necessary to singe the tongues of such people.”
Bonde’s comments, captured on video, raked up a storm on social media, and even BJP leaders condemned his statement. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said he did not endorse the statements made by either Bonde or Gaikwad, but also urged Gandhi to refrain from making “anti-India statements” and clarify his position on reservation.
On Wednesday evening, the Rajapeth police registered an FIR against Bonde. He was booked under sections 192, 351 (2) and 356 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, said Naveen Reddy, commissioner of police, Amravati.
The FIR was registered after Congress workers led by Amravati MP Balwant Wankhede, MLA Yashomati Thakur and others held a protest in front of the police commissioner’s office.
“Bonde conspired to create a communal riot in Amravati, after which he was awarded with a Rajya Sabha MP position. He should be booked and arrested for his offensive remarks,” said Thankur.
State Congress president Nana Patole said Congress activists would hit the streets on Thursday to protest against Gaikwad’s and Bonde’s remarks. “Everyone knows how Bonde became an MP,” he said, adding that he was not even worthy of talking about Gandhi. The Congress could give a fitting reply to such people in the same language, but that was not the party’s culture, he noted.
Patole also said that Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge had written a letter to the prime minister, urging him to take action against leaders like Gaikwad and Bonde.
“The silence of prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah on the issue clearly means that they support these elements,” said Patole.
Meanwhile, the Congress has lodged a complaint with the Tughlaq Road police station in New Delhi regarding recent statements against Gandhi, including by Gaikwad, Bonde and other BJP leaders like Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Raghuraj Singh. Their statements threatened Gandhi’s security and disrupted peace ahead of assembly elections in several states, All India Congress Committee treasurer and general secretary Ajay Maken said in the complaint.