PM disapproves of minister's speech; SACK her, says oppn

Controversial remarks by Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Tuesday rocked Parliament with the Rajya Sabha being paralysed for the day as a united opposition insisted on her sacking despite her apology.

“A mere apology will not suffice. She will have to resign,” was the refrain of the opposition members who stormed into the Well demanding her sacking.

Soon after both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha met for the day, opposition members created uproar over Jyoti allegedly making communal remarks and using an expletive in an election rally in New Delhi and demanded that she should be sacked. They also sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Members of Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and other opposition parties rushed to the Well leading to repeated adjournments in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha during pre-lunch sitting. 

When Rajya Sabha reassembled at 2 pm after four adjournments, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury cited a Supreme Court as well as a Calcutta high court order to drive home the point that mere apology was not enough and an FIR should be filed against her and she should be sacked.

Yechury’s argument got instant support from TMC, Congress, SP, Janata Dal-United and Left parties.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi disapproved of the controversial remarks, saying such comments were ‘not acceptable’ and asked party members of Parliament to refrain from those that gave a bad name to the government and the party.

Sources said the prime minister, while addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party, told the MPs to be cautious while making public comments and asked them not to give any ‘address to the nation’.

Sources said the prime minister did not name anyone but later conveyed to minister concerned to regret the remarks made by her at a public rally in the national capital.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi sought to calm down the opposition by contending that Jyoti has already apologised and the matter should be put to rest in keeping with tradition.

But the opposition remained adamant as Deputy Chairman P J Kurien expressed his inability saying the remarks were made outside the House.

With repeated pleas of Kurien to bring order in the House going unheeded, he adjourned the House for 10 minutes – the fifth adjournment since morning.

As the tempers ran high when it reassembled, he adjourned it for the day.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Jyoti’s remarks were “improper and unacceptable”.

He, however, said the House cannot decide whether her action was criminal in nature and it should be left for the agencies outside the House.

In her regrets, she said, “My intention was not to hurt anyone. If my speech outside the House has hurt anyone, I express my deep regrets and accept.”

Even this failed to satisfy the agitated members as they continued to create an uproar demanding apology from the prime minister as well.

Seeking to mollify the agitated members in Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said it was a “serious” matter and the minister concerned wanted to express regrets in the House.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge reminded Speaker Sumitra Mahajan of the adjournment notices given by him and his party colleagues over the reported statement of the minister as well as certain remarks made by another minister Giriraj Singh in past.

The Speaker rejected the notices saying though the matter is of urgent importance, the business of the day cannot be allowed to be disrupted. She, however, suggested that members can raise the issue during Zero Hour.

Kharge said the “objectionable” language used by Jyoti has created tension at a time when there have been communal riots.

Several Congress and Trinamool Congress members rushed to the Well shouting slogans.

In the Rajya Sabha, agitated members from Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party, RJD and Bahujan Samaj Party as many of them said they were not satisfied with an apology and wanted her to resign while a few also demanded registration of an FIR against her.

Sharad Yadav from the Janata Dal-United said the issue is not about one minister and recalled that another minister Giriraj Singh had also some time back had made controversial comments.

Congress’s Anand Sharma demanded Jyoti’s arrests, while Yechury contended that by apologising, the Minister has accepted her “offence”, which is cognisable and thus, an FIR should be lodged against her.

Digvijay Singh from the Congress and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy from the TMC said the remarks amounted to criminal offence and asked as to how she can get away with “mere tendering of an apology” as she has also “violated” the oath she took as a minister by making such remarks.

“Only offering an apology will serve no purpose. She will have to resign,” they said.

"Anybody who has an elementary sense of parliamentary democracy in this country, go by the past precedents and also conventions, the matter is closed... If somebody wants to take up the issue criminally, they are free to do so," Naidu said outside Parliament House here as he also targeted Congress party over its attack on the government.

"She (Jyoti) did what was expected of her... the matter is closed. A person realised her mistake, acknowledged it and expressed regret. There the matter ends," Naidu added.

The BJP has asked all party MPs to address public meetings in Delhi during the current winter session ahead of assembly elections slated early next year. Of them, 225 have given their approval and their programmes are being fixed, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

Rudy later said the meetings will be held every evening from 6 pm to 10 pm in every area of Delhi. The party MPs will be briefed accordingly in the next three days at separate meetings for first-timers, second-time MPs and senior party parliamentarians.

During such meetings, party MPs will be asked to make their strategy and chalk out programmes for campaigning in Delhi.