Dehradun:
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Uttarakhand state in-charge Shyam Jaju on Wednesday said that the state leadership has recommended permanent suspension of already suspended party MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion saying indiscipline cannot be tolerated. The move comes after a video of Champion dancing with pistols and carbine went viral.
"Champion is already suspended from the party for three months. A recommendation has been made to the central leadership of the party for his permanent suspension," Shyam Jaju said in a statement.
"There is a code of conduct for people's representatives in BJP which is a disciplined party that cannot compromise on principles," Jaju added.
Meanwhile, Champion – who was among the nine Congress MLAs who had rebelled against Harish Rawat and crossed over to the BJP in 2016 – claimed the clip was edited and termed it an intrusion into his privacy.
"The video which has gone viral is edited and an intrusion into my privacy. I never used abusive words against anyone as is being shown by the media," he told a private news channel.
The guns with which he is seen dancing were "licensed, unloaded and not pointed at anyone", he said, adding that "there was nothing wrong in dancing with guns".
He said he had been playing with guns since his childhood.
Accusing the media of not showing the positive side of his personality, he claimed at the age of 53 he was the fittest MLA in the country.
"Show me a single four-time MLA who has my level of fitness at the age of 53 and is as highly qualified as me. I am defying age. But the media never shows these positive aspects of my personality," Champion said.
