Sadhvi issue: Rajya Sabha logjam continues, Opposition walks out of Lok Sabha

The impasse could spill over to next week, affecting the government's legislative business

The Opposition on Friday stepped up its attack on the government, with both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessing protests over the issue of Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti earlier this week using swear words during a public rally in Delhi.

In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition members, including Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, wore black masks to signify their voices were being muzzled; they even walked out of the House. The proceedings in the Rajya Sabha were washed out for a fourth straight day, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party appealed to the Opposition to accept the first-time minister’s apology, keeping in mind her rural background” and that she was a “Dalit woman”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had made a statement in the Rajya Sabha the previous day and said he disapproved of the words used by the minister, on Friday made a brief statement in the Lok Sabha to express his gratitude to the House for continuing to conduct its business (BJP enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Lower House). Modi said: “The minister concerned apologised. She is a first-time member and comes from a rural background.”

Earlier, before the House began its day, the members of the Congress party, along with those of the Trinamool Congress and other Opposition parties, wore black masks and protested in front of the statute of Mahatma Gandhi. Talking to reporters, Rahul Gandhi said: “The attitude of the government is not to allow democratic process in the House.”

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi seemed to have goaded the Opposition further with his remarks in the Rajya Sabha that “the Congress targeting a dalit woman, even after she had apologised, showed their arrogance”.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram yechury attempted to put the government in a spot by demanding the House unanimously adopt a resolution condemning Jyoti’s remarks. Citing a precedent, he said the House had made a similar statement after the Babri Masjid demolition incident. The treasury benches vociferously opposed such a move.

With no breakthrough in sight, the impasse in the Rajya Sabha could spill over to next week, affecting the government’s legislative business.