NEW DELHI, Dec 15 — Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday accused Congress workers of making threatening remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a party rally in Delhi and said senior Congress leaders must apologise in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference, Rijiju said slogans allegedly raised at the rally included calls to “dig the grave” of the prime minister.
“This is not political criticism. This is a threat,” Rijiju said. “If there is any humanity left and if the Congress respects the people of this country, its leaders must apologise on the floor of Parliament.”
Rijiju said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were responsible for addressing the issue publicly and institutionally.
“An apology should be tendered in both Houses of Parliament,” he said. “It should be an apology to the country.”
The minister said political rivalry did not justify violent language.
“We fight elections, we debate policies, and we criticise each other,” Rijiju said. “But we never talk about killing one another.”
He said such remarks damaged the spirit of democratic politics and lowered public discourse.
“The prime minister is not just a leader of one party,” Rijiju said. “He is the prime minister of 140 crore people, and he is respected across the world.”
Rijiju said merely condemning the remarks was insufficient and that accountability was required at the highest level of the opposition.
“This kind of practice cannot be allowed to become normal in Indian democracy,” he said.
