NEW DELHI, DEC 13
Uproar prevailed in both theHouses of the Parliament over Rahul Gandhi’s reported rape remarks on Friday.
The BJP on Friday launched a blistering attack in the Lok Sabha on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his reported rape remarks and sought his apology.
As soon as Speaker Om Birla paid tributes to those who lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament attack, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said several BJP members had given notices of adjournment against Gandhi’s remarks and they be allowed to speak.
Meghwal said Gandhi’s remarks in Jharkhand’s Godda district on Thursday were condemnable and he should apologise in the House.
Meghwal said there had been precedents where members have apologised in the Lok Sabha for remarks made outside the House.
BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said Gandhi had insulted women by making remarks that ‘Make in India’ had become “rape in India”. She said all men were not rapists.
There was commotion in the House as BJP members raised slogans seeking apology from Gandhi.
Meanwhile, in Rajya Sabha, soon after Congress leader Anand Sharma raised concerns about the disturbing situation in the Northeast during the Zero Hour, eminent classical dancer Sonal Mansingh raised a point of order on the reported remark.
Women MPs from the treasury benches were in the aisle terming the Congress leader’s remark against the dignity of women in the country.
Stating that the Congress leader in question was not a member of the Upper House and his name cannot be taken, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu ruled out the point of order and asked the nominated member to meet him after the House was adjourned.
The ruckus by the members continued, forcing Naidu to adjourn the House till noon.
Will never apologise, says Rahul
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he would never apologise and instead demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should do so over an old video in which he claimed that Delhi had turned into a “rape capital” under the UPA dispensation.
“As far as their (BJP’s) demand for apologising, I am never going to apologise to them,” Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.
The Congress leader also clarified his rape statement that triggered protests by the BJP in both Houses of Parliament.
Gandhi said he simply made a point that Modi had been talking about ‘Made in India’, but wherever one sees it is “rape in India” as rapes are happening all over.
He said the main issue today was that Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had burnt the entire Northeast, adding that BJP was diverting attention by raising his rape remarks.
In a tweet, Gandhi said: “Modi should apologise, for burning the Northeast and for destroying India’s economy. For this speech, a clip of which I’m attaching.”
