New Delhi : The ruling BJP Tuesday demanded an apology in the Lok Sabha from Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee for his allegedly offensive remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public meeting in West Bengal.
The house witnessed some heated exchange of words over the issue during zero hour.
Addressing a rally in Hooghly district last week, Banerjee made personal attacks against Modi and BJP leader in-charge of West Bengal Siddharth Nath Singh.
Raising the issue during the zero hour, BJP MP from Darjeeling S.S. Ahluwalia said that such remarks against the prime minister were unbecoming of any member and Banerjee should apologise in front of the house.
“People from the ruling party in West Bengal are talking about the prime minister in an undignified manner. This needs to be stopped,” he said.
Ahluwalia said either the Trinamool Congress MP should apologise to the nation, or the house should pass a resolution against him.
“The nation will not tolerate this.”
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vankaiah Naidu said: “I would request the member to apologise as the kind of language used against the prime minister of the country is wrong.”
“Banerjee has also made derogatory remarks against former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri,” Naidu said, adding that the member should rise and apologise.
“This will be a good precedent,” he added.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan also said that though nobody can be forced to apologise, members should always remember their limits.
When TMC member Saugata Roy raised objection to Naidu naming Banerjee in the matter without giving a notice, the minister said they were ready to bring in a notice against the member if desired.
He said BJP members would be forced to bring a resolution against Banerjee if he did not apologise on his own.
CPI-M member M. Salim too demanded apologies from the Trinamool Congress on Banerjee’s comments against the prime minister as well as another TMC MP Tapas Pal’s comments in an election rally earlier this year.
Banerjee, however, sat quietly through entire episode.