KOZHIKODE: Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi lost her cool after a section of the audience refused to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ at a function in Kozhikode on Saturday. The minister also asked a woman to leave the venue, saying “anyone who doesn’t have pride in India shouldn’t be part of the programme”.
After inaugurating the Awake Youth Assembly organised jointly by Thapasya, the Nehru Yuva Kendra and other organisations, Lekhi ended her speech by chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Kai’. She wanted the audience to repeat the slogan loudly. The minister got angry when a section didn’t respond. “Why are you sitting with your hands folded? Is Bharat only my Mata or your Mata as well. Tell me. Any doubts,” she asked the crowd.
The minister again chanted the slogan but she found no response from the section.
“What’s the problem, boss?” she asked again. However, the minister didn’t get the expected reaction when she chanted the slogan again. Identifying a woman in yellow dress from the crowd, Lekhi said she wanted to ask a question.
Is Bharat not your mother, Union min asks audience
“Is Bharat not your mother? Why this attitude?”. When the girl failed to respond again, the minister said, “This woman is still standing like this (with folded hands). I think you can leave the house. Somebody who does not have pride in the nation need not be part of the conclave,” she said.
The minister then chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ several times and ensured that the crowd responded in the way she wished.
A major part of the minister’s speech at the programme was about the developments brought in by the Modi government.
She wanted the audience to chant louder after her when she said ‘Modiyude Guarantee’ (Modi’s Guarantee), the main slogan of the NDA in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
Talking to reporters later, she said the youngsters are sometimes shy. “You have to get them out of their shells,” she said. The minister refuted allegations that the Centre is taking a discriminatory attitude to the state government.
“I can give examples of Vizhinjam port, 160 kms of national highway, more than 75 lakh people under Ayushman Bharat and 999 Jan Aushadi Kendras,” she said.
Asked about the allegation against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena, she said “there is no immunity for wrongdoing or corruption, especially if you come from a political family,” she said.
“If Veena Vijayan has nothing to hide, she should cooperate with the investigation and follow the law of the land. In case she has anything to hide, the law will take its own course,” she said.