New Delhi, Dec 2
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani "infiltrators", a statement which triggered a row in the Lok Sabha on Monday, causing vehement reaction from treasury benches seeking the MP's "unconditional" apology.
The Congress leader reiterated his remarks in the Lok Sabha on Monday, when a lawmaker from treasury benches raised the issue during the Question Hour about his Sunday's "infiltrator" remarks made somewhere outside Parliament.
"Narendra Modi and Lal Krishna Advani are infiltrators," the Congress leader said, but the exact context was not clear. Reacting to it, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: "Who is infiltrator, it will be in the open very soon."
The issues again came up during the Zero Hour when a BJP MP raised the matter and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi later seeking Chowdhury's apology.
"It shows they are still not ready to realize the mandate of the people. His statement is an outright insult to the mandate of the people of the country who have elected Modiji with a resounding mandate," Joshi said.
"This is also the manifestation of the Congress side of federalism. I strongly condemn his statement. He (Chowdhury) comes from West Bengal. He is the leader of the Congress Party. Can we call him infiltrator? What is he talking about? He should talk responsibly.
"Let him understand. We are forced to draw the inference that the Congress party led by infiltrators will obviously perceive the others in another way. This party's leader is infiltrator. What they will tell about our party?"
Meanwhile, Chowdhury stood at his seat and rejected the allegations made by Joshi, saying "first of all, there is a need to understand in which context I made this statement".
"You (Pralhad Joshi) started making allegations without thinking anything. Prime Minister is not only your Prime Minister. He is our's Prime Minister too."
Joshi, however, continued speaking on the issue, saying "you should withdraw the statement made against the Home Minister, who created a history by repealing Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir under leadership of Modiji, and the Prime Minister."
"There should be an unconditional apology," Joshi demanded
The Congress leader later said I openly accept that I along with my parents are from Bangladesh. "When they came here they did not have proper documents.
"We have been residing here since Independence. We did not think of taking the documents as we thought that this was our country. Now, if anyone would say that I am an infiltrator, I would be an infiltrator. What will I do?"
He requested Joshi to hear him out and then seek his apology if he would fail to give satisfactory context.
As the row continued, the Lok Sabha Speaker adjourned the House till 2.15 p.m.
