The Bharatiya Janata Party's Madhya Pradesh unit has been stunned into silence after the extreme displeasure shown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on party MLA Akash Vijayvarigya involved in the controversial incident of hitting a municipal officer with a bat on June 26.
Modi, without naming Akash, had said during a BP parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday that any “arrogance or misbehavior” in public would not be tolerated... “whoever’s son he may be”. The prime minister also said that such persons and their supporters should be expelled from the party.
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After this strong statement, the ball is now in the BJP state unit’s court to initiate action against Akash, who is son of party general secretary and stalwart Kailash Vijayvargiya. However, most leaders in the state unit have gone on a quiet mode and THE WEEK’s attempts to talk to state president Rakesh Singh, who is in New Delhi attending the parliamentary session, did not fructify.
Meanwhile, the Congress has upped its ante on the issue. After Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s statement urging the BJP to take action against Akash, ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh has also taken a dig at the prime minister as well as party president Amit Shah on the issue.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Digivijaya said: “It did not seem Amit Shah would allow any damage to be done to his good friend Kailash Vijayvargiya’s son. Let’s see.” He said that if it (action on Akash) happens, Modi needs to be congratulated. “If not, then one has to say that there is a difference between his words and deeds and his intentions were not fair,” Singh added.
अगर एेंसा होता है तो मोदी जी आपको बधाई। यदि नहीं होता है तो यही कहेंगे आपकी कथनी और करनी में बहुत अंतर है और आपकी नियत साफ़ नहीं है। मुझे नहीं लगता अमित शाह जी अपने प्रिय मित्र कैलाश वीजावर्गीय के बेटे का कोई नुक्सान होने देंगे। देखते हैं।
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) July 3, 2019
मोदी जी ने कल भाजपा संसदीय दल की बैठक में आकाश के इस बयान के खिलाफ नाराजी प्रकट की और आकाश के खिलाफ कार्यवाही करने के निर्देश दिये। यही नहीं उन भाजपा के कार्यकर्ताओं के खिलाफ भी कार्यवाही करने के निर्देश दिये जिन्होंने जेल से छूटने के बाद उसका स्वागत किया और “हर्ष फायरिंग” की। https://t.co/HAEeFjDZOs
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) July 3, 2019
Several Congress leaders including ministers Bala Bachchan and Govind Singh also demanded that the BJP state unit initiate action against Akash in accordance with Modi’s advice.
Sources, meanwhile, said that the BJP was planning to serve a show cause notice to Akash Vijayvargiya and then the BJP disciplinary committee might decide upon his response. The matter could be put to rest after accepting Akash's apologies. However, given Modi's tough stand and Congress's constant push, it does not seem that the issue could be settled soon or quietly.
