Have apologised, won't quit, says a defiant Sadhvi Jyoti

In the eye for her hate speech in New Delhi while being on the campaign trail, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti apologized for her remarks but said that she would not quit the Cabinet.

“As a ‘sant’, I apologise; I’m ready to bow,” Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said on Tuesday over using expletives to target Opposition parties during an election rally in Delhi. “Main sant hoon, sant hone ke naate bhi maafi mangti hoon, main jhukne ke liye tyaar hoon (I’m a saint. I also apologise as a saint; I'm ready to bow),” she said.

However, when asked if she would quit as per the demands made by the members of opposition in the Parliament, she remained combative and said, “I have apologised in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. If my speech hurt anyone, I take back my words... I have expressed regret. They demanded an apology, I have apologised. What more can I do?”

Earlier in the day, she apologized in Parliament saying, “It was not my intention to offend anybody. I express regret from my heart and withdraw my words.”

But the Opposition has said the apology is not enough. “She has committed an offence... and till an investigation is over, she can't remain a minister. Her apology is an admission of her crime,” said Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party backed their leader saying the issue should not be stretched after the minister had tendered an apology. It also hit out at Congress, saying several of its leaders had made objectionable remarks in the past.

“But have they ever been asked to resign. When did Congress sack them from the party. And they are called experienced leaders while Sadhvi Niranjan has become MP for the first time,” UP BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai said.