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Updated May 26th, 2021 at 23:21 IST

BJP MP wants 'rogue' Shashi Tharoor disqualified from Lok Sabha for using 'Indian variant'

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla seeking the disqualification of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as a member of the Lower House

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
Nishikant dubey
ANI / Unsplash composite image | Image:self
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BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla seeking the disqualification of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as a member of the Lower House for allegedly tarnishing the image of the Parliament & the government of India. The BJP MP claimed that Shashi Tharoor, who is also the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Information & Technology, used the term 'Indian variant' to refer to the B.1.617 COVID strain despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) clarifying that it did not identify the virus' mutants based on where the first case was located. MP Nishikant Dubey noted that it was 'embarrassing' to see the Congress leader use the term to shame India & its citizens despite the Centre directing all social media platforms to remove the usage of the term. 

BJP MP wants Shashi Tharoor disqualified for using 'Indian variant'

Referring to Shashi Tharoor's recent jibes on his official Twitter handle, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed that the former had surpassed all levels of indecency expected from the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee. Taking a dig at the Congress leader, Nishikant Dubey said that Shashi Tharoor's words would sound soothing to his 'political masters' but would set a bad trend for democracy in India for allowing such mischievous elements. Terming Shashi Tharoor's behaviour as cantankerous, inane and rogue, MP Nishikant Dubey said that the former's acts as unpardonable and sought his immediate disqualification as Lok Sabha MP under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India. 

Centre asks social media platforms to remove 'Indian variant' term

Taking umbrage to the term 'Indian variant' of COVID-19, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) on Friday, had issued a directive to all social media platforms to 'remove all content referring or implying to the 'Indian variant' immediately. The Centre has cited the recent clarification issued by World Health Organisation (WHO) stating that the B.1.617.2 variant found in India was not classified as the 'Indian variant'. A day earlier, Singapore too directed social media giants Twitter and Facebook to carry the correction notice to all end-users in Singapore about a 'Singapore variant' as it has now been classified as a sub-variant of B.1.617.2.

WHO: No classification as 'Indian variant'

On May 12, the Centre issued a statement pointing out that the WHO has not classified the deadly variant as an “Indian Variant”, but classified it as a 'variant of global concern'. Centre took offence to certain media reports terming it the 'Indian variant' claiming these reports are without any basis, and unfounded. It also added that the word “Indian” has not been used in the 32-page WHO document. WHO South-East Asia too confirmed that 'WHO does not identify viruses with names of countries they are first reported from'.

WHO has classified the B.1.617 variant of the Coronavirus, first identified in India, as a variant of global concern. As of 11 May, over 4500 sequences have been uploaded to GISAID and assigned to B.1.617 from 44 countries in all six WHO regions, and WHO has received reports of detections from five additional countries. WHO stated that the B.1.617 sublineages appear to have higher rates of transmission, including observed rapid increases in prevalence in multiple countries.

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Published May 26th, 2021 at 23:21 IST

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