A delegation of BJP leaders that includes Union Minister Smriti Irani and Saroj Pandey, the chief of the party's women's wing, met Election Commission to file a complaint against Congress leader and demanded strict action against him.
On Thursday, at an election rally in Jharkhand, Rahul Gandhi used the term "Rape in India" to speak out against sexual crimes and what he said was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on a former BJP leader's involvement in a rape case.
“Modi should apologise: 1. For burning the North East, 2. For destroying India’s economy, 3. For this speech, a clip of which I'm attaching,” he said in his tweet.
“I have a clip on my phone in which Narendra Modi ji is calling Delhi a 'rape capital', will tweet it so that everyone can see. Just to deflect attention from protests in North East, this is being made an issue by the BJP,” he had told media before he tweeted the video.
Clarifying his controversial statement, Rahul said: “PM Modi keeps talking about ‘Make in India’, but in the newspaper headlines we only see rape in India. Today in every BJP-ruled state incidents of rape are common. In Unnao, a BJP MLA has been accused of rape, the victim’s vehicle was attacked, and yet Prime Minister never uttered a word on this.”
Gandhi's denial for apology came after the BJP launched a a blistering attack in the Lok Sabha on Congress leader for his rape remark and sought an apology for disrespecting women of the country. The strongest of the attacks came from Union Minister Smriti Irani who said it was “for the first time in the history of India that Gandhi family's son is saying come and rape women in India.
Irani said that Rahul Gandhi should not play politics on rape and also asked his mother Congress President Sonia Gandhi to advise and guide him. She demanded a strong action against the former Congress chief and not just an apology.
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament, Irani said how could the Congress leader stoop to such extent as to mean something like "inviting men to India to rape". Lashing out at Rahul inside the Lok Sabha, Irani said: "This is the first time in the history of India that a man from Gandhi family has the audacity to insult women and call for their rape.
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Several other female BJP legislators attacked Rahul Gandhi over the controversial statement he made in Jharkhand on Thursday and sought an apology from him. Irani along with other MPs in the lower House, asked for an apology from Rahul Gandhi. There was rage and fury as she attcaked the Congress. She said: "Rahul Gandhi should be punished for mocking his political opponant and calling 'Come, rape in India."