Cong accuses Irani of 'politicising' issue of rapes in country

The Congress on Friday accused Union minister Smriti Irani of politicising the issue of rapes in the country and claimed that the treasury benches created a ruckus in Lok Sabha as the government did not want a discussion on security of women.

A heated debate in Lok Sabha on the burning of a rape victim in Unnao snowballed into a massive political row on Friday as the BJP accused two Congress members of showing aggression towards Irani and demanded an apology, leading to adjournment of the House proceedings without much work.

Speaking on the incident at a Congress brieing, party MP Jothimani hit out at Irani, saying "she has politicised rape".

Treasury benches people created a ruckus and got the House adjourned because the government does not want a discussion on women security in Parliament, she said.

"What happened in Parliament today when we wanted to speak on the Unnao (incident), they did not want to discuss it and the Home minister was also not present. Instead, the women and child development minister stood up. Smriti Irani stood up and politicised rape," Jothimani said.

She also hit out at the BJP for accusing Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of politicising the Unnao incident, saying, "We never tried to politicise rape.

"We are sensitive enough to realise what happened in Coimbatore, what happened in Hyderabad, Unnao and Malda," the Congress MP said.