Rakesh Rathore, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh, has said that he could face a sedition charge if he spoke too much.
In a video apparently showing him answering a reporter’s question about the COVID-19 pandemic last week, Mr. Rathore was asked about a medical facility that was awaiting inauguration and whether he had done anything to have it opened. “What is the stature of MLAs? If I speak too much, then sedition charges will be invoked against me,” he is heard responding.
Asked whether he could raise his concerns with the government, he said: “Do you think MLAs can say anything?”
He said he had raised questions earlier as well and that it had been reported by the media and published on social media.
Last year, an audio of an apparent call between Mr. Rathore and another BJP leader had gone viral. Mr. Rathore was heard questioning the rationale behind “clapping” to get rid of COVID-19, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on Indians to clap or bang utensils to show gratitude to frontline workers in March 2020.
