Hours after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's alleged “below the belt” attack on Chief Minister Hemant Soren, ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) demanded Dubey's suspension from the lower house of the parliament citing alleged forgery in his educational certificates and undue favours that he had purportedly taken from industrialists during his 11 years of membership in the parliament.
JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya on Wednesday produced a copy of an RTI reply from the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi stating that Dubey did not pursue any course from the University in 1993.
“It is clear that Nishikant Dubey has arranged fake certificate through forgery or other means in a bid to add up to his educational qualification,” said Bhattacharya. “We will write to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking his suspension from the Lok Sabha owing to his immoral and fraudulent activities,” Bhattacharya added.
Dubey took to microblogging website Twitter on Tuesday morning and sought to reopen a 2013 criminal case registered in Mumbai. Dubey said that the Chief Minister was an accused in the case, and it should be reopened for investigation. Soren, in his quick reaction to the tweet, wrote, “You will get a legal reply within 48 hours. Please stop misleading people as per your conduct.”
Levelling counter allegations on Dubey of taking undue favours from industrialists, Bhattacharya said, “We do not wish to indulge in below the belt attacks. Such shallow politics and crass remarks were uncalled for. But what else do you expect from frauds? The MP himself has admitted that the case has been closed.”
Bhattacharya said that JMM has records of Dubey's foreign vacations and who paid for them. His air tickets too, Bhattacharya said, were sponsored by industrialists. “JMM has demanded a probe into Nishikant Dubey's benami properties that he had amassed during his tenure as the MP,” the senior JMM leader added.
The Godda MP has been in the news lately for challenging the government's decisions. Earlier this month, he knocked at the door of Jharkhand High Court seeking judicial intervention in changing the government's decision of not holding Sravani Mela in wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Dubey had said that not organising the Sravani fair may hurt religious sentiments.