Niranjan Jyoti's swear words for Opposition disrupt Houses

Modi asks MPs to limit interaction with media

The Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business on Tuesday and the Lok Sabha was adjourned briefly, as the Opposition demanded that Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who had used swear words during a public rally in Delhi on Monday, be sacked and a criminal case be filed against her.

However, the issue did not come up for discussion at the morning meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary party, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his party’s MPs to limit their interaction with the media.

Jyoti was one of the 320-odd Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs who attended the meeting. BJP President Amit Shah said all MPs should address public rallies in Delhi, which would soon have an Assembly election, while in the city to attend the winter session of Parliament.

Jyoti had said at the public meeting on Monday that the people of Delhi needed to choose between Ramzaadon ki sarkaar (a government of the children of Ram) and one of those who were illegitimate. The issue rocked both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday.

Jyoti defended her remarks when speaking to the media in the morning. But she apologised in the two Houses after Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and his deputy, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, spoke to the MP from Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. “She is sad and upset at her remarks, which we believe are highly regrettable,” Rudy said. “There is no space for such language in political life.” Naidu said the issue should be closed as she had apologised.

The Lok Sabha resumed business after Jyoti’s apology but the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day, as Opposition members, led by the CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, said she had not actually apologised. Opposition members demanded that Jyoti be sacked and also demanded a first information report to be filed against her. The issue could cause disruptions in the Rajya Sabha if Jyoti fails to give an unqualified apology.

Jyoti is a first-time MP. Earlier, she was elected to the UP Assembly in the 2012 elections, from Hamirpur. On her educational qualification, the Lok Sabha website says she is an “intermediate”. She is a katha vachak and hails from a backward caste.

At the meeting of the BJP parliamentary party, Naidu lauded the PM for his successful foreign visits and also released a 60-odd-page booklet, Mission Overseas, a compilation of newspaper reports of the PM’s foreign visits. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is to make a statement on the PM’s foreign visits in Parliament on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Modi asked MPs to be punctual and stressed that they should restrict their interaction with the media. The PM’s advice was in the context of ministers and MPs sparking controversies with their remarks.

He also said that former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday, December 25, would henceforth be marked as “Good Governance Day”. He asked all MPs to devote at least an hour on that day towards a cleanliness drive and also tell people about the government’s good governance initiatives, such as the Jan Dhan Yojana.

The PM asked MPs to submit their choice of sports they would like to promote in their respective areas.