BJP demands Adhir’s apology for calling Modi, Shah infiltrators

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 2

The BJP members on Monday protested in the Lok Sabha against Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “ghuspaityhiye”—“infiltrators”.

Seeking his apology, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi attacked Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in the House, taking a swipe at his party over its president Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins.

Dubbing her an “infiltrator”, the BJP members said they will not tolerate such an “insult” against PM Modi and Shah. 

The matter was raised again when the House reconvened after the lunch with the Treasury Benches again insisting on an apology from Chowdhury who said his forefathers had also came from Bangladesh.

Unrelenting, Joshi said he is forced to draw this inference that the Congress is led by an infiltrator.

Chowdhury, who had made the infiltrator barb at the BJP leaders while speaking on the contentious National Register of Citizens issue, sought to explain his remarks and said he would apologise if the BJP is not satisfied with his response.

Using the opportunity to underline his opposition against the NRC, he said his own family had come from Bangladesh.

“We do not have many documents so if somebody calls (us) an infiltrator, we cannot do much,” he said.

However, BJP members continued with their protests, forcing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the House amid ruckus.

But when the House resumed at 2.15 pm again, the BJP members were again up at their feet with Joshi calling the remarks an “insult” to people who had given Prime Minister Modi an overwhelming mandate in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

The minister said India’s prestige has enhanced in the world under Modi’s leadership and such an insult to him and Shah cannot be tolerated.

The other members also called for an apology asking Chowdhury can be called an infiltrator because he is from West Bengal. They also accused Chowdhury of running a “syndicate” in West Bengal for helping Bangladeshi infiltrators become Indian citizens. 

During the Question Hour, when Chowdhury rose to ask a supplementary, ruling alliance members tried to mock him by shouting the word “infiltrator” several times.

The Congress leader immediately tried to counter by saying: “Yes, I am an infiltrator, I am a ‘deemak’ (termite). Modi is an infiltrator. Amit Shah is an infiltrator. LK Advani is an infiltrator”.

Union Petroleum and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan shot back, saying Chowdhury’s “design would be exposed soon”.

“Sab khulengi, aap ki paribhasha se desh nahi chalega (Everything will be exposed. The country will not run by your definitions,” Pradhan said.

On Sunday, Chowdhury had termed Modi and Shah as “infiltrators” in Delhi.

The Congress leader also said Modi and Shah are migrants since they have their homes in Gujarat but are now living in Delhi