BJP demands apology over Manju Lata Meena's controversial remarks against PM, Congress calls it "baseless drama"

New Delhi [India], December 15 : Both Houses of Parliament on Monday witnessed strong objections from BJP leaders to a Congress leader's controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress dismissed it as "baseless drama" and questioned the need to raise the issue in Parliament.
Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, JP Nadda, strongly condemned the slogans raised against PM Modi during the mega rally against the alleged 'Vote Chori' in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan the previous day, demanding a public apology from senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
Addressing the Upper House, Nadda said the slogans reflected the Congress party's "thinking and mentality".
He said, "Sonia Gandhi ji should apologise to the nation for slogans raised against PM Modi in the Congress rally yesterday. At yesterday's Congress rally, slogans were raised against PM Modi. This shows the Congress party's thinking and mentality. Saying such things against a Prime Minister is condemnable. Sonia Gandhi ji should apologise to the nation for this."
Nadda's remarks came in the wake of statements made by Congress leader Manju Lata Meena, where she reportedly said, "Modi teri kabar khudegi, aaj nahin toh kal khudegi" (Modi, your grave will be dug soon, if not today, then tomorrow). She is also the district president of the Jaipur Women's Congress.
The Upper House witnessed sloganeering from the Congress MPs during Nadda's address.
In the Lower House of the Parliament, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju raised the issue, demanding an apology from Congress.
He said, "We are not each other's enemies, just opponents. In 2014, a BJP MP used inappropriate language toward the Opposition, and Prime Minister Modi asked her to apologise, which she did. Yesterday, during Congress' rally, their leader talked about digging the Prime Minister's grave. Senior Congress leaders were present at the rally. There is nothing more unfortunate for this country. I want Congress leaders to apologise."
Rijiju's objection in the Parliament witnessed strong sloganeering from both sides.
The Union Minister had raised the issue even before the Parliament proceedings for the day began. "Merely condemning is not enough. The Congress president and LoP should apologise in the Parliament; they should apologise to the country. I think that if any humanity is left with them and if the Congress party wants to give any respect to the country, they should not delay and apologise to the country from the Floor of the Parliament. Only then will we agree that they committed a mistake and the Congress party admitted the mistake," Rijiju had said.
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut also condemned Manju Lata Meena's remarks and said, "In which civilised country are public announcements for someone's killing made at public events? We have different ideologies, but it doesn't mean that we are enemies and would wish death upon someone. The entire country is hurt because he is the democratically elected PM. This is not right. An apology must be made because if we have such opposition leaders, they will not set a good precedent before the world."
Whereas, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the need to raise the issue in Parliament, alleging that the Union Parliamentary Minister was disrupting proceedings and accusing the ruling side of blocking discussions on key issues such as pollution.
Speaking to reporters, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "You (the media) don't ask why the Union Parliamentary Minister himself was disturbing the proceedings of the House. No one from the stage said anything like that. Then we learned that someone from the public or a worker made that statement, but it is unclear who it was. Then, why is this matter being raised in the House? They (the ruling side) don't want the House to run. We had demanded a discussion on pollution, but they are not doing even that."
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal rejected JP Nadda's demand for an apology, dismissing the controversy as "baseless drama" orchestrated by the BJP to divert attention from the rally.
Speaking to reporters, the Congress General Secretary said, "This is baseless drama they have created today because we conducted a successful rally in Delhi yesterday. I asked Kiren Rijiju ji: Did any Congress leader say anything? They said some people in the rally had said it. This is baseless. It is not our custom to use unacceptable language against any political leader, even if they are our political rivals. On the other side, we can see the language Amit Shah ji used in Parliament last week. No leader, be it from the state level or the district level, would do any such thing."
Meanwhile, Congress leader Manju Lata Meena defended her statement, claiming she was only expressing the public's anger over alleged vote rigging and accusing the Prime Minister of failing to address key issues.
"There is so much anger among the public regarding vote rigging. They (BJP) have formed these governments by rigging votes, and the Election Commission is also acting according to their instructions. He (PM Modi) doesn't talk about employment, youth, women, or farmers. He distracts from the issues," Meena said.
On Sunday, Congress held a 'Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod' rally at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, heightening the party's campaign against alleged electoral irregularities. The party intensified its campaign over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.