New Delhi: Virtually ruling out any action against Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, the Prime Minister said the minister was new and that such comments should be avoided in the “heat” of elections, but at the same time urged the Opposition to allow the House to “move on” in the “national interest” following her apology.
“Before this issue was raised in the House, I had put forth this matter before all our MPs... The minister is new, and she has come to Parliament for the first time. We are aware of her background. She has apologised. I believe that after her apology...This House has so many senior members with so much experience, they know what should be their feelings towards an apology,” Mr Modi said.
“I appeal to the House when the minister has apologised ... This is a message to all of us that in future we all should not cross the limits of dignity in terms of do’s and don’ts. I appeal to the House that we should work for the interests of the country,” he added.
The Opposition however, continued to insist that Ms Jyoti had no right to continue as a minister. The Opposition MPs wanted some clarifications from the PM, but this was disallowed. The House adjourned for the day at 2.40 pm after five adjournments.
In the Lok Sabha too, the Opposition created an uproar, pressing for a statement from the PM, failing which they collectively de-cided to boycott the House for the day. The leader of the main Opposition party, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, accused the government of acting with “brute majority” and demanded that Mr Modi give a statement in the House.
