New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Uttarakhand unit has landed in a controversy after former MLA Suresh Rathore publicly admitted to marrying his long-time partner without divorcing his first wife—a move that comes months after the northern state rolled out the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that prohibits polygamy across communities.
Facing growing backlash, the BJP has now issued a show-cause notice to Rathore, accusing him of “improper conduct” and actions that have harmed the party’s social and moral image.
The 23 June letter by state general secretary Rajendra Bisht says Rathore’s statements and behaviour on social media have repeatedly embarrassed the party.
“It has been observed for a long time that your undignified behaviour, especially through media and social media platforms, has repeatedly come to notice. Your statements and conduct are damaging the party’s social and moral image. Your activities clearly fall under the ambit of party indiscipline,” the notice states.
Rathore has been directed to submit a written explanation within seven days.
The controversy broke out after Rathore, who represented Jwalapur until 2022, held a press conference last week acknowledging his marriage to actress Urmila Sanawar, without legally divorcing his wife, Ravindra Kaur.
“I was trying to hide our relationship because of some compulsions, but now I have accepted her as my wife, and I am also making a public announcement about it,” Rathore told the media.
The public admission has triggered political uproar, given that Uttarakhand became the first state to implement the UCC earlier this year, mandating monogamy and penalising polygamy.
Seizing the moment, the Congress accused the BJP of applying the UCC selectively and shielding its own. “Is the UCC only for political opponents?” Uttarakhand Congress chief spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni told ThePrint.
“The BJP blew its trumpet across the country about implementing the UCC, but when their own former MLA openly violates its core provisions, the government stays silent.”
She further questioned why no disciplinary action had followed until now and demanded clarity on whether Rathore’s actions constituted a legal violation under the new law.
BJP spokesperson Manvir Singh Chauhan confirmed that a notice had been issued, but did not specifically mention that it was about his marriage.
“This has been brought to our notice and it comes under the ambit of indiscipline. The BJP takes strict action against anyone indulging in any form of indiscipline—whether junior or senior, no one is spared,” he said.
Chauhan told ThePrint that Rathore submitted his reply to BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt in person and that it would be forwarded to the disciplinary committee for a review.
Rathore declined to comment on the marriage issue but acknowledged the party’s notice. “I have been served a notice for apparently using undignified words, but I will put out my statement on the party platform. I have never used undignified words. I have been associated with the party at different levels for the past 45 years. The party is like my mother,” he told ThePrint.
Sources in the party said the leadership learned of the second marriage through the media and social media. “This is his personal matter, but he should not have held a press conference like this. A notice has been served, and a final decision on the action will be taken soon,” a senior BJP leader said.
Rathore had won from Jwalapur in 2017 but lost the seat to the Congress’s Ravi Bahadur in the 2022 assembly elections.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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