Kuldeep Varshney, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha or BJYM's Badaun district chief
Highlights
- BJP Youth Morcha leader Kuldeep Varshney expelled from party for 6 years
- He announced a prize of Rs 5 lakh for 'cutting Kanhaiya Kumar's tongue'
- Varshney says Kanhaiya's post-bail speech at JNU insulted BJP, RSS
A leader of the BJP's youth wing who had announced Rs 5 lakh as "prize" for cutting off the tongue of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested last month on charges of sedition, has been expelled from the primary membership of the party for six years.
Calling himself a "dutiful citizen", Kuldeep Varshney - Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha or BJYM's Badaun district chief - had alleged that in his speech at the JNU campus after being released on bail on Thursday, Kanhaiya "insulted" the BJP, the RSS and Prime minister Narendra Modi and added that he announced the "prize" because he "could not tolerate" his comments.
"In his speech yesterday, he spoke against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and also insulted our nation. Being a dutiful citizen, I could not tolerate this," he told reporters.
Announcing the decision to expel him, the president of district unit of the BJP, Harish Shakya, also said that a notice to remove Varshney from the post was issued six months ago. "His statement is his personal one and the party has nothing to do with it."
Kanhaiya was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after he was arrested on sedition charges for his alleged role in a February 9 event at JNU that marked the anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and in which anti-India slogans were raised.
Two hours after he was released from Tihar jail, he attacked PM Modi and the ruling BJP in a fiery hour-long speech at his university, surrounded by cheering supporters.
Two more students, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, have been arrested on the same charges. The case has led to mass protests and opposition allegations that the government is trying to crush dissent.
Mr Kumar has denied making anti-India remarks. Footage of him that was televised by some news channels has been declared doctored by a forensic lab that was asked to examine the video by the Delhi government.
Granting the student leader bail for six months with conditions, the court asked him to guarantee that he will not participate in any "anti-national activity" and that he will appear whenever required for investigations.