A day after ex-Congress Minister purportedly made disparaging comments against Smriti Irani, Union Human Resource Development Minister on Monday said it is only justified that a Congress legislator can make such shameless and objectionable remark against a woman.
While addressing a public rally in Assam’s Nalbari district on Monday, Irani said that the BJP workers will fight from the booth level in the forthcoming polls against this ‘shamelessness’ to throw out the Congress from power.
Thousands of BJP workers and other organisations demonstrated across the State in Assam demanding an unconditional apology for the objectionable remark made by former Assam Agriculture Minister and senior Congress leader Nilamonisen Deka against the Union Minister on Sunday.
Hundreds of BJP workers also gheraoed the residence of the senior Congress leader and former Minister in Guwahati protesting against his remark and registered FIR against him in different police stations seeking his immediate arrest. The BJP workers also demonstrated in front of Rajiv Bhavan, the headquarters of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leading to scuffle with Congress members, forcing the police to resort to lathi charge and lobbing of tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
Deka, while addressing a rally on Sunday in Nalbari, said that “many refer to Smriti Irani as second wife of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
“I am told that some BJP workers on Monday protested against the shamelessness of the Congress in Assam capital and that some Congress members had attacked them with sticks. Today, I challenge the Congress openly that our workers will fight from each of the booths against this shamelessness of the Congress and throw them out of power in Assam,” said the firebrand BJP leader while attacking the Congress.
She also slammed the Congress Government in Assam for failing to provide security to women in Assam and while referring official statistics said that over 75,000 cases of atrocities against women have been registered in Assam in last ten years.
The statement made by Nilamonisen Deka drew flakes for the ruling party ahead of the next year’s polls even as the APCC and other senior Congress leaders distanced themselves from Deka and said remark is a personal statement.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi also condemned the remark of Deka and said it is not in Assamese culture to pass such objectionable remark against women. “It is not an Assamese culture. I have asked the former minister to apologise immediately,” said Gogoi.