New Delhi: BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj, who stirred a controversy by asking Hindu women to produce at least four children, remained defiant yesterday despite the party issuing him a show-cause notice, and said it was an “internal matter” of the party.
“I will talk to my party, not to you,” he told reporters here.
The parliamentarian from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, who was served the notice by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, denied he has received any.
According to BJP sources, the show-cause notice has asked the MP to respond within 10 days why he made the controversial statements despite instructions from the party not to do so. “I have not got any notice yet. I will respond to the notice if I get it... Even if I get any notice, it is an internal matter of the party. I will not discuss it with media,” he said.
In response to questions from reporters, he kept on repeating: “I am not aware of any notice. I have not got any notice.”
Party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said action was taken as the MP made the statement despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instruction to legislators to restrain from making such comments. “A strong message was given during winter session by the prime minister that MPs should not make controversial statements,” Rao said. “That advisory was violated, so a notice was issued,” he said.
The opposition Congress said the show-cause notice was not enough. “Sakshi Maharaj is symbolic of politics of division. There are many Sakshi Maharajas in BJP... The PM’s silence and such mild action encourages such statements,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
Addressing a gathering in Meerut, Maharaj said the concept of four wives and 40 children will not work in India and the time has come when “a Hindu woman must produce at least four children” in order to protect Hindu religion.IANS
Kolkata: Days after BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj asked Hindu women to produce four children, a party leader from West Bengal raised the number to five — so that Hindus don’t get “extinct”. “I have only one request... Every Hindu mother and sister will have to produce at least five children,” said Shyamal Goswami, the BJP’s vice-president in Birbhum district. West Bengal BJP president Rahul Sinha said Goswami had apologized for the remarks. “The comments were not made during a party programme but at a private event... He has apologised to the party for the remarks,” Sinha said. IANS
