# Madhya Pradesh speaker apologises for remarks on Kushwaha community 2026-08-05T22:52:17+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar issued an apology after video clips of remarks he made about the Kushwaha community went viral online. The Hindu reported that in a letter dated 4 August, Tomar said the comments were made at a family function on 31 July at the Morena home of BJP district chief Kamlesh Kushwaha, where he had said the community occasionally switched loyalty and had tarnished its own credibility. He wrote that he had always respected the Kushwaha community, withdrew the words and expressed regret for any hurt caused. The Opposition Congress criticised the remarks as an insult to all OBC communities. The episode surfaced amid scrutiny of the BJP's defeat in the Datia Assembly bypoll, which some observers linked to OBC voters siding with Congress. Former Home Minister Narottam Mishra met BJP's Datia candidate Ashutosh Tiwari and denied any internal feud, while the BJP formed a two-member panel to review the result and dissolved its local organisational unit. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Tomar's apology responds to the community's reported anger, but a letter expressing regret does not by itself resolve whether the remarks reflected a wider BJP attitude toward Kushwaha voters. The suggestion that OBC voters shifted to Congress in Datia is attributed to political observers, and the claim that Mishra sabotaged the party's chances there is reported as rumour, neither settled as fact. The party has already dissolved its local organisational unit on the two-member panel's recommendation, what it does about the allegations Tiwari is said to have raised before senior BJP leaders in Bhopal is where the review leads next. ## Coverage - The Hindu Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, Narendra Singh Tomar Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/m-p-speaker-tenders-apology-for-remarks-on-obc-community/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/m-p-speaker-tenders-apology-for-remarks-on-obc-community/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.