Hate speech row: Oppostion leaders call for Sadhvi Niranjan's resignation

Lashing out at Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti for her inappropriate comments, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, along with other opposition leaders, on Wednesday called for the former's resignation on moral grounds.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister accused the Sadhvi of trying to strengthen the communal forces in the country.

"She has given this statement to strengthen the communal forces in the country. Just apologizing in the Parliament is not sufficient. When she has apologized, it means that she accepts her mistake, so it is her moral responsibility to resign as a minister. If she doesn't resign on her own then it is Prime Minister's responsibility to dismiss her," said Mayawati.

Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making Sadhvi Niranjan a minister.

"The Prime Minister should apologize for making such a person a minister," Aiyar said.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) Politburo member Brinda Karat questioned the Prime Minister's silence on the controversy.

Karat asked, "A criminal prosecution must be started against Niranjan Jyoti, but why is the Prime Minister silent? Why is the Prime Minister afraid of his own Parliament?"

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy, however, defended the Sadhvi saying, "She has already apologized and what she said was outside the Parliament."

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti had on Monday used abusive words to urge voters to choose between candidates, while addressing voters in west Delhi's Shyam Nagar. Her choice of words had garnered strong criticism from various political parties.

Jyoti later tendered an apology in the both the Houses of Parliament for her controversial remarks and said that she did not intend to hurt anybody by her statement.