Pritam Lodhi, an Other Backward Class (OBC) politician from Shivpuri district and a relative of former chief minister Uma Bharti, has been dismissed from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Madhya Pradesh branch for his “anti-Brahmin and anti-women” comments. Despite Lodhi’s written apologies to the BJP for his remarks from earlier this week, the party nonetheless took action against him on Friday. In the past, Lodhi had twice unsuccessfully run for the Shivpuri Assembly seat in Pichhore. According to a family friend, his son is married to Uma Bharti’s older sister’s granddaughter.
One BJP youth wing leader, Praveen Mishra, was prompted by his remarks to file a police report against him, accusing him of inciting animosity.
“Seeing beautiful women from good families, they (the Brahmins) want to have food in the homes of those women. They (Brahmins) want young women seated in the front row and make elderly women sit in the back row,” he had said
The 62-year-old has previously been charged in 37 cases, including two murder charges and four counts of attempted murder. Following the video’s viral success, the opposition Congress attacked the BJP, and numerous Brahmin community organisations staged demonstrations across the state calling for his dismissal from the party. According to an officer, Lodhi was the subject of FIRs in several Shivpuri police stations. After a dispute over his comments, a BJP representative said that Lodhi also submitted a written apology to the party.
One of the most powerful OBC communities in Madhya Pradesh is the Lodhi community. The state’s rural areas are ruled by the community. In the MP, the OBC community makes up about 48% of the electorate. Bagwandas Sabnani, state General Secretary of BJP, said: “BJP leader Pritam Lodhi had made some comments against a particular community which was against the party’s views. His views are something that the party can never agree with… Lodhi was called and served a notice. He also submitted a written apology. But the party found it unsatisfactory after which he was removed from primary membership of the party for six years.”
