BJP on Wednesday distanced itself from the controversial tweet of Union minister V K Singh, saying twitter is personal and not a party forum and the meaning of the tweet can best be explained by the person concerned.
BJP on Wednesday distanced itself from the controversial tweet of Union minister V K Singh, saying twitter is personal and not a party forum and the meaning of the tweet can best be explained by the person concerned.
"Twitter is a personal platform and not a party platform and the meaning of the tweet can best be deciphered by the person concerned," BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
He lauded the government, External Affairs ministry and also Singh for his role in the success of 'Operation Raahat' for evacuating Indians from strife-torn Yemen, claiming an operation of this scale has never been carried out in the past.
Singh was caught in a fresh row yesterday over his remarks comparing the Yemen evacuation operation with his visit to the Pakistani mission recently and later tweeted making snide remarks against a TV channel.
Maintaining that 'Operation Raahat' was "humongous", Patra said other countries have extended the demand that India should help them in evacuating their citizens and the party congratulates the government, the Ministry of External Affairs and Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh.
"As a party, which has its government, we can say that the government is a guardian of democracy in India and going by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's words of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', this government is committed to the fact that all the pillars of democracy -- the legislature, executive, judiciary and the fourth pillar media-- move together to uphold democracy and for the betterment of the poorest of the poor," he said.
Asked on how he reacts to the Minister's remark, he said the core issue is the evacuation process and it has given a great lesson of how evacuations should tak place.
"Operation Raahat is a great achievement," Patra said, while seeking to distance himself from the row over the tweet. "Friends what do you you expect from 'presstitutes'," Singh said in a tweet late last night, adding that last time the TV anchor thought there was 'O' in place of 'E'.
He earlier said, "Actually speaking, the operation (evacuation) in Yemen is less exciting than going to the Pakistani embassy." It evoked sharp reactions from political parties including Congress which said the comments were "deplorable" and showed his "insensitivity".
But Congress demanded his immediate sacking and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking any action against him.
"We are not going to rest till the demand is met. He should be sacked immediately. This is a highly condemnable remark against the media, which is the fourth pillar of democracy," Congress spokesperson Khushboo told reporters at the AICC briefing.
Asked what the party would do if Singh was not removed, she said, "We will first wait to see what action is being taken." Khushboo said what is lamentable is that the Modi government and the BJP is full of ministers and leaders and MPs ranging from Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti to Giriraj Singh and Sakshi Maharaj, known for making controversial remarks.
Singh came under attack from several Congress leaders who slammed the Minister of State for External Affairs over his remarks. Singh's "statement shows utter intolerance and incapacity to hear any kind of criticism or dissent", the Indian National Congress said on its Twitter handle, quoting its spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.
Another party spokesman, Sanjay Jha, tweeted, "General VK Singh's choice of dreadful terms to attack Indian media is not just politically inappropriate but seriously lamentable." "Generally speaking, BJP confesses that it is a lousy, bad guardian of Indian democracy. A direct assault on Indian media is no private matter," Jha said in another tweet.
Singh, who is currently in Djibouti to oversee evacuation of Indians from Yemen, had on Tuesday compared the rescue operation from the war-torn country with his visit to the Pakistani mission recently, saying the evacuation was "less exciting". However, he later made snide remarks against a TV channel for playing up his comparison remarks.
"Friends what do you you expect from presstitutes," he said in a tweet late last night adding that last time the TV anchor thought there was 'O' in place of 'E'.
His remarks elicited sharp reactions from political parties as well as a media body.
Former Union Minister Manish Tewari said that what Singh has said is "completely reprehensible" and needs to be condemned in strongest possible terms. "It's an assault on the freedom of the Press," he said.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue, he said that had there been a sensitive Prime Minister, he would have "dismissed" the minister by now. "But since the Prime Minister and the Minister seem to share a similar mindset, I have no expectation out of the PM," he said, alleging this is a "completely fascist" mindset.
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