NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked party parliamentarians to be cautious when making comments in public, as the the Bharatiya Janata Party has planned over 2,000 public meetings in the capital ahead of the assembly elections.
Modi's stern warning came hours after Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's inflammatory comment during a public rally in Delhi sparked controversy prompting the opposition parties to demand her resignation.
The BJP has roped in all its 325 parliamentarians from the two houses to hold meetings in Delhi, in preparation for the upcoming assembly elections, where Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to be its main challenger.
According to sources, at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board Tuesday morning, Modi asked members to be cautious while speaking in public.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said meetings will be held every evening from 6 PM to 10 PM in various areas of Delhi. Every parliamentarian has been asked to give six dates.
"The meetings started from Dec 1. So far, 225 MPs have given us time and dates," Rudy told reporters.
The public meeting where Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti made use of foul language was one of the meetings in the series.
Rudy, however, refused to comment if any word of caution was given to the parliamentarians following Jyoti's blunder.
Asked why the BJP was focusing its entire strength of parliamentarians in Delhi which is a small state, Rudy said: "The party decides how to campaign."