'Is This His Message to People': Smriti Irani Tears Into Rahul Gandhi for Rape Remark, Seeks Apology

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday launched a blistering attack in the Lok Sabha on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his ‘Rape in India’ remarks and sought his apology for disrespecting women of the country.

As soon as Speaker Om Birla paid tributes to those who lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament attack, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said several BJP members had given notices of adjournment against Gandhi’s remarks and they be allowed to speak.

Meghwal said Gandhi's remarks in Jharkhand's Godda district on Thursday were condemnable and he should apologise in the House. Meghwal said there had been precedents where members have apologised in the Lok Sabha for remarks made outside the House.

The strongest attack came from Union Minister Smriti Irani who said it was “for the first time in the history of India that Gandhi family's son is saying come and rape women in India. Is this Rahul Gandhi's message to the people of the country? He should be punished," Irani said in Lok Sabha, adding that the Congress leader should be punished for using women for political gains.

BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said Gandhi had insulted women by making remarks that 'Make in India' had become "rape in India" and added that all men were not rapists.

As the ruckus continued, the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 12pm. The Rajya Sabha too was adjourned as “Rahul Gandhi maafi maango” slogans were raised.

Gandhi, in a public rally on Thursday, had said: "Narendra Modi had said 'Make in India' but nowadays wherever you look, it is 'Rape in India'. In Uttar Pradesh Narendra Modi's MLA raped a woman, then she met with an accident but Narendra Modi did not utter a word.”

Speaking to the media, Gandhi said there was no question of apologising for his remark and slammed the BJP for trying to divert attention from the Citizenship Amendment Act that had triggered protests across the Northeast. He also took to Twitter to post a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling Delhi the "rape capital" of the world.

Earlier, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had raised the Unnao rape case in Lok Sabha, saying the country was gradually moving towards "rape in India" from "make in India". Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Chowdhury said there have been many incidents in the past -- from Kathua to Unnao -- where women or girls have been gangraped and killed.

A 23-year-old rape victim in Unnao was recently set ablaze by five men. She succumbed to injuries in Delhi' Safdarjung hospital "I feel ashamed when I hear such incidents. We are gradually moving towards 'rape in India' from 'make in India,' he said, taking a dig at the NDA government's slogan of 'make in India' to promote industries in the country. Chowdhury also claimed that no senior leader of the government has spoken on the issue so far.

Several BJP members tried to counter the Congress leader by raising an incident of alleged gangrape of a girl in Chhattisgarh, a Congress-ruled state.