`BSP expels MP Vijay Bahadur for praising Narendra Modi`

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Vijay Bahadur Singh had defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial `puppy` remark.

Zee Media Bureau

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party leader Vijay Bahadur Singh, who had defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial `puppy` remark, has been suspended from the party. A statement from the party said despite repeated warnings, Singh continued to make statements which were not in sync with party lines, therefore, he was being expelled. A senior party leader said Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has been informed about the party`s decision to expel Singh. Singh, who is a first time MP from BSP, has been denied ticket for the next Lok Sabha Elections. BSP chief Mayawati had also rapped the party MP from Hamirpur for saying "Modi’s statement is 100 percent right. It is in the favour of the nation." While terming his remarks as personal, she had recently said that the party has taken seriously Singh`s "disease" of making public statements. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has come under sharp criticism from many political parties for saying in an interview that he had done "absolutely the right thing" during the 2002 Gujarat riots and described himself as a "Hindu nationalist". He had also said that even if a "puppy comes under the wheel of a car, one feels sad" when asked whether he regretted the 2002 riots. Bahadur had defended Modi’s statement, saying: “He just said in simple words that how even a dog being harmed would affect and hurt him. Some people are equating the dog with a minority community, how is that being proven by Modi’s interview? ” (With Agency inputs)