Sadhvi Niranjan apologizes for remarks, Oppn. demands her ouster
"What more can I do? I have already apologised in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," said Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti adding that she has taken back her words even as Parliament was rocked by the issue,
Criticizing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the issue of her son-in-law Robert Vadra’s controversial land deals, Jyoti said: “You have to decide. Do you want a government of Ramzaadon (followers of Ram) or those who are illegitimate?”
“The son of an ordinary family, who sold utensils, Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law [Robert Vadra], how did this man become a millionaire? They robbed the poor,” she said.
When reporters asked her about her abusive remarks, the minister said: “What else do you call people who loot the nation...those who steal from the people and stash it in foreign banks? You tell me what we should call them.”
Opposition Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue inside the House taking it up with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan while senior party leader Ashwani Kumar said: "It shows narrow-mindedness of BJP." Kumar said such statement has never been made in history of democracy before.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati demanded Jyoti's resignation over the remarks and said an FIR must be lodged.
Jyoti, who had helped BJP get influence in Dalit community, had debuted in the general elections held in May this year and won from Uttar Pradesh. She is one of the six BJP MPs in-charge the party’s campaign for the Delhi polls scheduled early next year
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday warned all Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers not to address the nation “out of turn”. The PM also categorically made it clear that he would not compromise on that.
“Do not address the nation out of turn. I will not compromise on this,” Modi said.
His statement came in the wake of Jyoti’s abusive remarks during the campaigning in Delhi on Monday.
Shortly after PM Modi’s unequivocal warning, the union minister also sought apology in Parliament on Tuesday.
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