Cong MP Ravneet Bittu summoned by Punjab SC Commission for objectionable remarks

Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, who stirred up a row with his "pious seats'' remarks, has been asked by the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Caste to appear before it on June 22.

The summons was issued a day after a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation led by MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu lodged a complaint against the Ludhiana MP for allegedly making ''casteist'' remarks against Dalits.

The opposition parties in the state on Tuesday had slammed Bittu for allegedly insulting the Dalits by saying that the SAD left ''pious seats'' like Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib to its ally Bahujan Samaj Party.

He made the comments in a video posted on his Facebook page after the SAD and the BSP stitched an alliance last week for the next year's Punjab Assembly polls.

Tejinder Kaur, Chairperson of the Punjab SC panel, said on Wednesday that the Commission received a complaint from Pawan Kumar Tinu in this regard.

In a statement here, Kaur said the Commission has decided to investigate the matter and has summoned Bittu to appear personally on June 22 at 11:30 AM.

A SAD delegation had apprised the state SC Commission chairperson of a video of Bittu in which he allegedly uttered ''objectionable'' remarks against the Dalit community.

The delegation had demanded that the Commission should act on the issue immediately to prevent any flare-up in the state.

Other parties including the BSP and the BJP had also criticised Bittu's remarks.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)