File photo: Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti
A public meeting to be addressed on Thursday evening by controversial union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti was cancelled at the last minute, with the BJP saying she could not attend because of "urgent personal work."
Ms Jyoti, minister of state for food processing industries, was supposed to have made a speech in the Raja Bazar area of Gole Market, central Delhi. "She had some personal work and therefore wasn't available for today's meeting. But she will be back again in the next few days," Praveen Shankar Kapoor of the Delhi BJP told IANS.
The minister's comments in an earlier speech in election-bound Delhi has caused Parliament proceedings to be held up for the last five days by an angry opposition that has demanded that she be sacked.
On Sunday, she said in a speech, "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 apologised in both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, but the opposition has said that is not enough.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Parliament that he has "criticized in the strongest terms" the language used by the minister. But the government has made it clear that the minister will not be removed.
The Opposition has now offered a potential compromise - it has pitched that the Rajya Sabha adopt a unanimous resolution condemning Ms Jyoti's statement without naming her.
Elections are expected to be held in Delhi early next year.