MP: BJP expells OBC leader for 'anti-Brahmin' and 'anti-women' remarks
Bhopal, Aug 20: The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has expelled Pritam Lodhi, an Other Backward Class (OBC) leader from Shivpuri district and a relative of former chief minister Uma Bharti, from the party for his "anti-Brahmin and anti-women" remarks.
The BJP took the action against Lodhi on Friday despite his written apology to the party over his remarks that he had made earlier this week.
Lodhi had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from Pichhore in Shivpuri twice in the past. His son is married to the granddaughter of Uma Bharti's elder sister, an acquaintance of the family said.
"The party took a serious note of Lodhi's remark against Brahmins and women and found his crime unpardonable. So, state BJP chief V D Sharma on Friday took a decision to expel Lodhi from the party's primary membership," the ruling party's state general secretary and office in-charge Bhagwandas Sabnani said in a statement.
"For BJP, social harmony and women's respect is of paramount importance," he said.
Lodhi landed in soup after a video of him speaking at the birth anniversary of Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi on August 17 at Badarwas in Shivpuri went viral. In the video, he could be heard saying that Brahmin priests make people crazy, fool them and loot their money and food grain. He also said that some of them stare at women and make young women sit in the front rows during discourses.
After the video went viral, opposition Congress attacked the BJP, while several Brahmin community organisations protested across the state, demanding his expulsion from the party.
FIRs were also registered against Lodhi in different police stations in Shivpuri, an official said.
A BJP leader said that after a row over his remarks, Lodhi also tendered a written apology to the party.
The Lodhi community is one of the most powerful OBC group in Madhya Pradesh. The community holds sway in rural parts of the state. Around 48 per cent voters in MP are from the OBC community.
#MadhyaPradesh: Insult of #Brahmins by #BJP leader Pritam Singh Lodhi in Shivpuri. #Trending #Viralvideo #India pic.twitter.com/VelePtoYHl
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3 held, hunt on for 4 accomplices after they kidnap, assault and urinate on man in Bhopal
Bhopal (PTI): Police have registered a case against seven persons and arrested three of them for allegedly kidnapping, assaulting and urinating on a 22-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, officials said on Thursday.
The incident occurred during the intervening night of April 26 and 27 in an area located under the Hanumanganj police station limits, an official said.
One of the accused urinated on the face of the victim and captured a video of the act, which was later circulated on social media to humiliate him, he said.
"A complaint in this connection was lodged by Jaswant Markam (22), a resident of Kamla Nagar, based on which a case was registered against seven persons under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and police have arrested three of them, including one Prem Thapa," Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said.
Three police teams have been formed and the remaining suspects will be apprehended soon, he said.
During the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Markam was at the local bus stand with a friend when around 4 am, the accused took him away on the pretext of discussing something with him. They asked him about his neighbour and friend Aniket. When he refused to provide any information, they started assaulting him, the police said.
The accused then took him to a forest in Karond area, where he was stripped and severely thrashed, they said.
When the man began to lose consciousness, one of the accused urinated on his face and made a video of the act, which was circulated on social media to humiliate him and spread terror, according to the police.
The accused called Markam's friend around 5 am to inform him about his condition. The victim was subsequently admitted to a hospital, the officials said, adding that the viral video was also being investigated.
Responding to a query, Hanumanganj police station in-charge Awdhesh Bhadoria said if the victim was found to be from the tribal community, then relevant sections will be invoked against the accused.
At present, the police are probing the incident and search is on to arrest the remaining accused, he added.
In 2023, a man had urinated on a tribal youth in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media platforms and created a controversy.
