Oppn demands Jyoti's resignation as PM returns

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday returned to the Lok Sabha after a brief hiatus only to be greeted by a wave of protests by Opposition members who demanded an explanation from him on the controversial remarks of Union Minister Niranjan Jyoti.

Jyoti triggered a row while addressing a rally in the national capital on Monday when she said, “The people of Delhi have to decide if they want a government of Ramzaadon (descendants of Ram) or haramzaadon (those who are illegitimately born).”

The prime minister was in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday after winding up his foreign visits and completing his domestic engagements. However, he did not make any remarks in the House.

“We are fortunate to have the prime minister in our midst today,” Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha said as soon as the House convened. He said the prime minister should remove Jyoti from his council of ministers as she has admitted to have made the controversial remarks.

As Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed the Opposition members from raising the issue again, Congress and Trinamool Congress members trooped into the well and raised slogans against the government.

Modi had introduced the new members of his expanded council of ministers on November 24, the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament and had left for an official visit to Nepal the next day. He was on a three-day visit to the north-east after his return from Nepal.

As the Trinamool felt the heat from the massive BJP rally in Kolkata on Sunday, its members raised the pitch in Parliament against Modi by dubbing him an ‘NRI Prime Minister’.

Opposition members shouted slogans in the Well of the House as Modi looked on quietly.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu ruled out resignation of Jyoti, whose controversial remarks continued to disrupt Parliamentary proceedings for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

Trinamool leaders were on the forefront of the protests and were ably supported by the Congress.