Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, Congress State President Jitu Patwari in Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask state minister Vijay Shah to resign following Shah's objectionable remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
Elsewhere, veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said Shah had a mentality similar to that of the "BJP's troll army", and the PM should clarify whether he found the minister's comments appropriate.
A First Information Report has been registered against Shah in Indore on the direction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court after his remark about Qureshi, who was a prominent face of the armed forces along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh during media briefings on Operation Sindoor, led to a major controversy.
"During the India-Pakistan tensions, the prime minister gave two important messages to the country and the world. First, 140 crore Indians are united, and second, 140 crore Indians stand with the army. But the BJP ignored the way your minister Vijay Shah in MP crossed the limits of using abusive language and tried to spread hatred," Patwari told reporters.
While the HC took suo motu cognizance and directed police to register an FIR within four hours, it took eight hours, he claimed.
"Now this foul-mouthed minister is hoping to get justice by filing an appeal in the Supreme Court, which means instead of sacking him, the BJP is conspiring to protect him," the Congress leader said.
PM Modi must ask the BJP minister to resign or have him dismissed from the Madhya Pradesh cabinet immediately to give a message to the whole world that solidarity and honor of the armed forces are supreme for the nation, he said.
"Instead of protecting him, the Bharatiya Janata Party should obtain his resignation. It will set an example for the politicians who keep speaking nonsense and go unpunished," Patwari said.
PM Modi, during his visit to the Adampur air base, asserted that the government and every single person in the country stood with the army, the Congress leader said, adding that yet, neither the PM nor chief minister Mohan Yadav took any action after Shah's statement triggered a row.
The country is seeing the difference between the prime minister's words and the BJP's actions, said Patwari, adding that until Shah was sacked, the Congress will keep fighting (over the issue) for the honour of the army.
Abhay Tiwari, state Congress general secretary in-charge of media and research, pointed out that when Vijay Shah had made an objectionable comment about then chief minister (and senior BJP leader) Shivraj Singh Chouhan's wife in 2013, he was forced to resign from the cabinet.
"Now when he has made a shameless comment on the army, the BJP is silent. Is this their nationalism?" he asked.
Veteran Congressman Digvijaya Singh said Shah had the mentality like that of "the BJP's troll army", and even after an FIR was registered against him, the ruling party is trying to save him.
"There is a competition among BJP leaders to turn every issue into Hindu-Muslim one....This is not only Shah's mentality. This is the mentality of BJP's troll army. Whatever Shah has said reflects the Sanghi (RSS) ideology of the BJP," the Rajya Sabha member further said.
Prime minister Modi and BJP president J P Nadda should make it clear whether they consider Shah's controversial statement appropriate, Singh further said.