Raj minister blames slip of tongue for his derogatory remark on women

Amid an uproar by the Opposition MLAs over his remarks in the House, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal on Thursday tendered an apology saying it was “a slip of tongue”.

The BJP, however, shouted slogans against him and demanded his resignation.

“It was a slip of tongue. I feel sorry for that. I wanted to say something for the desert state. I personally respect women and will continue to do so. If my comments have hurt anyone, I apologise,” Dhariwal said.

On Wednesday, he had made certain comments in his reply to the demand for grants to the police department, which Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said were “an insult to women, public and brave men”. They were later expunged.

Though Speaker C P Joshi asked Kataria not to raise the matter during the Question Hour, the Opposition continued its uproar and demanded Dhariwal's resignation.

The Speaker said Dhariwal had visited his chamber and had confessed that his comment was unintentional.

The Rajasthan assembly was adjourned for an hour on Thursday following the ruckus by opposition members protesting against derogatory comments made by Dhariwal.

Despite repeated directions by the Speaker to maintain order in the House, the opposition continued to protest.

RLP MLAs Pukhraj and Narayan Beniwal showed some papers during the protest, to which the Speaker raised objection saying no poster or banner or papers are allowed in the House.

When his instruction was ignored, the Speaker directed marshals to evict both the MLAs from the House. Subsequently, the Speaker adjourned the House for one hour.