Minister Vijay Shah row: Cong welcomes SC order, says law and Constitution are supreme

Bhopal: The Congress on Monday renewed its demand for Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah's resignation after the Supreme Court chided him for his remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and constituted a three-member special investigation team to probe the FIR lodged against him.

Congress said that whatever "tricks" the Mohan Yadav government has adopted to save Shah have failed.

"This decision makes it clear that the arrogance of power and dictatorial attitude cannot stand in front of the law and the Constitution," said Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari.

He alleged that the crass remarks made by Shah raise serious questions about the "character and face of the Bharatiya Janata Party".

Earlier in the day, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh wondered if the apology tendered by the minister was "crocodile tears or an attempt to wriggle out of the legal proceedings".

The bench said the entire nation was in shame due to the comments.

"What kind of apology was this? You should have simply admitted your mistake and apologised, but you say if you have said this and that…then I apologise. This is not the way to seek an apology. The kind of crass comments you made, you should be shameful," the Supreme Court said.

Patwari said the apex court's stern stand proves that only the law and the Constitution are supreme and not any political bigwig.

"The BJP makes big claims about nationalism and its respect for the Army. However, when one of its ministers insults a brave woman of the Army, it remains silent, which exposes their hollow nationalism," he said.

Congress said a statewide campaign would be launched for Shah's ouster from the state cabinet and demanded that he be booked on charges of treason and promoting communalism.

"When the government does not listen, the High Court and the Supreme Court take cognisance. The apex court has heard the public sentiment," said Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Umang Singhar.

He said the BJP is "silent" because it considers Shah's comments appropriate.

"The entire nation is condemning Shah's statement, but the BJP is still not taking action. If there is any morality left in the BJP, then Shah should resign immediately," he said.

Singhar said, "Whatever tricks the state government was using to save Vijay Shah have failed".

Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah had kicked up a major row after he purportedly termed Colonel Quereshi, the face of media briefings on Operation Sindoor, a 'sister of terrorists', during his public speech.

The controversial remarks not only invited wide-scale condemnation from various sections of society and the Opposition, but also led to the registration of an FIR against the minister on the orders of the High Court.