BJP suspended party spokespersons Nupur Sharma and expelled.  Naveen Kumar from primary membership. 

This comes after Sharma made controversial statements about Prophet Mohammed during a TV debate. Violence erupted and major clashes broke out in Pared, Nai Sadak and Yateemkhana areas of Kanpur city after Friday prayers over the remarks. 

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“Your primary membership is immediately terminated and you are expelled from the party,” a communication from its Delhi president Adesh Gupta said.

A communication to Sharma from the party’s disciplinary committee said she has expressed views contrary to the party’s position on various matters, which is in clear violation of its constitution.

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“Pending further inquiry, you are suspended from the party and from your responsibilities, assignments if any, with immediate effect,” it said.

An FIR was filed against her by Irfan Shaikh, joint secretary of the Mumbai wing of Raza Academy. It states that Sharma, in a news debate on the Gyanvapi issue, allegedly made abusive comments about the Prophet. She has denied saying anything abusive or wrong. 

Who is Nupur Sharma?

The official spokesperson of the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Delhi unit since 2017, Nupur Sharma is an advocate by profession. She contested on the 2015 Delhi Assembly election the New Delhi constituency and lost to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Arvind Kejriwal by more than 31,000 votes.

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The 37-year-old  graduated in economics from Hindu College of the Delhi University (DU). She went on to fo her LLB from DU and got a masters degree in law from London School of Economics.

In her college days, Nupur Sharma won the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) election on an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) ticket. She was the president in 2008. She installed CCTV cameras for security, water purifiers and solar lamps within the university amongst other initiatives during her time as DUSU president. 

Sharma joined the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. She has held several positions in BJP and was made the spokesperson in 2017.