“I Won’t Apologize,” Rahul Gandhi On ‘Rape In India’ Comment Row

Rahul Gandhi's "Rape in India" comment attacking the government at an election rally in Jharkhand exploded in parliament today as the BJP ministers tore into the Congress leader.

Addressing an election rally in Jharkhand on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi said PM Narendra Modi had said 'Make in India' but today what we see is "rape in India." Attacking the Modi government, Rahul said, "Women are being raped in Jharkhand. In Uttar Pradesh, a BJP MLA (Kuldeep Senger) raped a woman. In every state, rapes are happening every day. PM Modi had also said 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' (protect girls and educate them), but Modi didn't say whom should the daughters be protected from. Should they be protected from BJP MLAs?"

Taking strong objections to these comments, the BJP came down heavily on the Congress in both the Houses, demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi. Defence minister Rajnath Singh said, "Such members have no moral right to be in the House." Smriti Irani also attacked the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, "For the first time in history, a leader is giving a clarion call that Indian women should be raped. Is this Rahul Gandhi's message to the people of the country? He should be punished."

Rahul Gandhi, who was not allowed by the Speaker to respond, told the reporters outside: "I won't apologize... Let me clarify what I said. I said the PM keeps talking about 'Make In India'. So when one opens the newspaper one hoped that one would see news about it, but what do we see when we open the papers? We see so many cases of rapes." He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of trying to divert focus from the protests in the northeast over the Citizenship Act.