NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Ramesh Bidhuri on Tuesday skipped the meeting of the privileges committee in which he was to record his “oral evidence” in connection with complaints that he hurled religious slurs at Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) lawmaker Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha last month.

Bidhuri cited a prior engagement in poll-bound Rajasthan for not being able to appear before the committee on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.

Bidhuri, who represents South Delhi in the Lok Sabha, has been appointed as the in-charge of the BJP campaign in Rajasthan’s Tonk district.

The Lok Sabha’s privileges committee had sought his appearance to record his statement in the complaints filed by Ali and several other MPs for ‘giving oral evidence in respect of complaints received from various Members of Parliament against him and Kunwar Danish Ali, MP for alleged improper conduct during the discussion on `Chandrayaan-3 Mission` in the House”.

Bidhuri sparked a massive controversy during the special session of Parliament when he used unparliamentary language against Ali.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla referred to the privileges committee a complaint against Bidhuri for using unparliamentary language against Ali and BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey’s complaint that Bidhuri was provoked by Ali to use religious slurs by using “highly objectionable” comment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.