New Delhi, Dec. 2: An abuse-laced inflammatory speech by Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti at a public meeting rocked Parliament today, gifting the Opposition its first opportunity to corner the Narendra Modi government on a scale unseen so far.
A united Opposition — barring the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) whose members watched the ruckus silently — demanded the sacking of Jyoti, a first-time MP from Uttar Pradesh inducted into the Narendra Modi government in its expansion last month.
The minister of state for food processing, usually clad in saffron, had made the remarks at a rally in poll-bound Delhi yesterday, asking the people “to decide if they wanted a government of Ramzaadon (followers of Ram) or haramzaadon (illegitimates)”.
In Parliament today, the Opposition refused to relent despite an expression of regret from the minister. The furore was greater in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP is in a minority and which had to be adjourned for the day without transacting any business after four interruptions. The Lok Sabha functioned normally following a brief adjournment, after the minister’s regret.
“Whatever I said outside the House, if it has hurt anybody, I express regret and take back my words. I am ready to apologise,” Jyoti said in the Rajya Sabha where the Congress’s Anand Sharma had flagged the issue saying she “does not deserve to continue in the council of ministers”.
The CPM’s Sitaram Yechury echoed the demand but also sought an apology from Modi. “Forget about bringing black money from abroad, please bring our Prime Minister back,” Yechury said in a crack at Modi who was not seen in Parliament today.
Yechury seized on Jyoti’s regret, saying it meant she had accepted having committed a crime under Section 153 of the IPC that makes promoting enmity on the basis of religion or caste a punishable offence. “The government has to file an FIR,” the CPM leader said.
The demand was supported by much of the Opposition — including arch-rival Trinamul — making the government look besieged for the first time in its six months.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley tried to bring calm, saying Jyoti had already apologised and the House had no jurisdiction to do anything beyond this. “To say the minister has smashed the Constitution is taking the issue too far.”
Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu later termed the matter “closed”. “...if somebody wants to take up the issue criminally, they are free to do so.”
But the Opposition plans to stall the Rajya Sabha tomorrow too. Asked why the issue didn’t have the same impact in the Lok Sabha, Yechury replied it was the “tyranny of the majority”, referring to the BJP’s brute majority in the lower House.
Initially, the government was reluctant to discuss the matter. When it was raised during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha, junior parliamentary affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi insisted on a notice and claimed Congress ministers had also used equally abusive language earlier, angering the rivals further.
Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai tried making a similar point outside. “When did the Congress sack them (such leaders)? They are called experienced leaders, while Jyoti has become an MP for the first time.” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed Jyoti’s remarks were a “slip of tongue”.
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