Sensitiveness waxes and wanes. Or so it would appear with the Bharatiya Janata Party hurriedly distancing itself from the remarks its member of parliament, Sakshi Maharaj, made in Meerut. The Union minister, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, has stated that the saffron-clad MP's reference to those who believe in four wives and 40 children as the cause of India's rising population has nothing to do with the government's or party's views. That sounds a little thin. The BJP is not known to penalize its leaders for trying to incite hatred against the minority community or other groups. Rather, it is the party's quiet endorsement that was felt when Sakshi Maharaj earlier called Mahatma Gandhi's assassin a patriot, and urged Hindu women to have four children each to save Hinduism. The minister, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, got away - with just an admonishment - with her Ramzadon-har****don remark, the BJP MP, Yogi Adityanath, compared Shah Rukh Khan to a known terrorist when the actor commented on the atmosphere of intolerance, and the BJP leader, Giriraj Singh was all for sending critics of Narendra Modi off to Pakistan. This list makes it difficult to believe in Mr Naqvi's assertion.

But then, election-time is sensitive time. The only instance in which the BJP moved effectively was last July, when it expelled Dayashankar Singh, the Uttar Pradesh BJP vice-president, for calling Mayavati a "prostitute". The BJP has set its heart on UP, after all. Now times are even worse. The Supreme Court outlawed the campaigning for votes on the grounds of religion or caste, and the Election Commission, following this, issued a warning to political parties that it will not sit idle if such a thing happens. Sakshi Maharaj just walked into that one. He probably expected the same kind of party support that he has always enjoyed, but his party cannot risk it. The Election Commission issued a notice to him for violating the model code of conduct which is in place in UP and for promoting enmity on religious grounds. This could set an example if the case is pursued seriously. The MP should not be allowed to get away with his excuse that he was speaking to a gathering of holy men and did not name any community. It is important that the BJP feel the heat. Its favourite strategy of playing with community polarization has to be defeated.