Raj min Avinash Gehlot defends use of term ‘grandmother’ for Indira

Jhunjhunu: Social justice and empowerment minister Avinash Gehlot, who is currently in the firing line of Congress for a certain comment he made in Assembly about former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi, said Sunday he is ready to comply with any decision the leadership of his party BJP or its legislature unit takes regarding the controversy.
Speaking to journalists in Jhunjhunu, Gehlot said he had met Speaker Vasudev Devnani during the uproar over the allegedly unparliamentary comments and offered to have the reference removed from assembly proceedings if Congress found it objectionable.
Immediately after Gehlot referred to Indira Gandhi as "Congress's grandmother" during a speech in assembly Friday, Congress MLAs started protesting, and bedlam prevailed in assembly, leading to an adjournment. The continuing protests by Congress MLAs led the Speaker to suspend six MLAs of the party from the House proceedings in the ongoing Budget session. Congress MLAs and functionaries have been staging protests across the state since against both Gehlot's statement and the suspension of the six MLAs.
Defending his choice of words, Gehlot cited instances where he said Congress functionaries Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi publicly referred to Indira Gandhi as their grandmother. "It is customary in our culture to address elders as grandfather-grandmother, mother-father, or uncle-aunt. There is nothing disrespectful about using the term ‘grandmother'," said Gehlot.
The opposition party, however, has taken strong objection to the minister referring to the late ex-PM as ‘Congress's grandmother'. Gehlot maintains that Congress's reaction was disproportionate and possibly aimed at deflecting attention from other issues. He specifically mentioned a scheme launched in Indira Gandhi's name by the earlier Congress govt that he said remained unfunded. "Congress created uproar to hide its failures," said Gehlot.
Emphasising what he called BJP's "commitment to bipartisan cooperation", Gehlot noted that three ministers from BJP are maintaining ongoing dialogue with Congress. He urged opposition members to return to the House and participate in constructive debates on matters of public interest. But the controversy currently sees both BJP and the opposition holding firm to their positions on the appropriateness of the terminology used.