Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi on Thursday withdrew her comment about calling the protesting farmers ‘mawali’, saying that her words were “misinterpreted”.
“My statement has been misinterpreted. Nonetheless, if my comments that are being linked with farmers have hurt anyone, then I take my words back,” the BJP MP from New Delhi constituency said.
Earlier in the day, Lekhi, the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Culture, had called the protesting farmers ‘mawali’ after they reached Jantar Mantar in Delhi to stage the ‘Kisan Parliament’.
At her press conference in the BJP headquarters, a reporter referred to “farmers” attacking a camera person when he was covering their protests at Jantar Mantar. She said, “You should stop calling them farmers because they are not farmers.”
She continued, “They are playing in the hands of some conspirators. Farmers don’t have time to sit in Jantar Mantar. They are working in their farms. Middlemen are behind them (protestors) who do not want farmers to get benefits.”
She also cited the violent incidents in the national capital during farmers’ protest on January 26, and said these protestors should not be called farmers.
Replying to another question about the attack on the camera person, who works with a leading Hindi news channel, and also the January 26 incidents, she said, “You are calling them farmers again. They are mawali.”
Meanwhile, as her comments created a furore, the opposition camps launched a scathing attack on Lekhi.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’ Brien hit out at her saying, “You can say anything at the BJP press conference. People, when they vote, will bring you down.”
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh demanded Lekhi’s immediate resignation. He said, “Lekhi has no right to “defame” the farmers in such a manner. The BJP has no right to condemn the farmers in such an outrageous manner over the incident.”
