PM Narendra Modi must speak on the matter of hate speech made by his minister, says Opposition.
The "Modi
jawab do (the Prime Minister must answer)" chant is expected to continue today in the Rajya Sabha, where proceedings have been held up for the last two days by an angry opposition that wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack a union minister who made a hate speech in Delhi over the weekend.
Left leader Sitaram Yechury said the Prime Minister must speak on the matter.
"Let the prime minister say that he will take action against his council of minister... What that action is, let him explain... no... but let them take the initiative," he told NDTV, putting the onus of getting the House to function on the government.
The PM was in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, but did not comment on the controversy.
The government has made clear that the minister,
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, will not be removed. "There is no question of Niranjan Jyoti resigning," said Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
Ms Jyoti who is from Uttar Pradesh, said at a rally in the capital on Monday, "The people of Delhi have to decide if they want a government of
Ramzaadon (descendants of Ram) or
haramzaadon (those who are illegitimately born)."
She must be jailed, said Congress leader Anand Sharma in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Mr Yechury has been at the forefront of the attack on the BJP in the Upper House, where the government is in minority. He told NDTV, "It is not our obduracy... it is the obduracy of the BJP who continue to be very, very aggressive. Their replies of what they were trying to say even today was an aggressive posture justifying these incendiary remarks by a minister... Now that even the most reasonable would find difficult to accept."
Ms Jyoti, 47, apologised in Parliament on Tuesday, reportedly on the orders of the Prime Minister, but a united opposition says she must be sacked and face criminal charges for trying to incite communal hatred. "I have apologized. What else can I do?" she said later.
"This is a non-issue. No further action will be taken against her... The minister has apologised on the floor of the House. That is good enough and speaks for itself," said BJP minister Prakash Javadekar.