Week after controversial speech, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti holds rallies in Delhi

A week after her hate speech that triggered widespread outrage, Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Monday addressed two rallies in the capital including one at Trilokpuri of East Delhi which had witnessed communal clashes last month.

In her addresses, Jyoti confined herself to attacking Congress and Aam Aadmi Party and asked the people to support BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections to ensure all-round development in the city. In her first rally after the controversy, Sadhvi slammed the Congress and even took a dig at its Vice President Rahul Gandhi. "Spending night at a jhuggi cannot make one realise the poverty, what poor people have to face everyday." Interestingly, she sang 'bhajans' at the the end of her speeches in both the meetings.

Jyoti's hate speech at an election rally in Dwarka on Monday last had evoked sharp reactions with the opposition parties stalling proceedings in Parliament seeking her ouster. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had strongly disapproved of her controversial comments. Police made a tight-security arrangement in Trilokpuri as the area had witnessed communal violence recently.

Targeting the Congress, Jyoti said those who could not give the "details of 60 years, are now seeking account of the last six months of our government". Attacking the AAP, she said, "Before forming government, they sought suggestion of the masses on the government formation, but why they didn't adopt the same way when they were to resign from the government." The minister said Delhiites are facing the burden of a fresh election within an year because AAP "ran away" from their responsibilities.