Will raise 'politics of intolerance' in Parliament: Congress MP

KOCHI: The Congress will raise the issue of "politics of intolerance" of certain Union Ministers in Parliament when the second part of the Budget session resumes on March 9, a senior party MP said today.

Congress Deputy Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, K C Venugopal lashed out at the remark of Union minister Kiren Rijiju against a Delhi University student and asked him to resign.

"He (Rijiju) is not fit for the Union Minister's job. He should quit. We will raise the issue of growing incidence of intolerance from the part of certain union ministers in Parliament," he told PTI here, referring to Rijiju's statement "targeting" DU student 20-year-old Gurmehar Kaur.

Kaur had started a video campaign 'Not Afraid of ABVP'.

The former Union Minister alleged that Kaur was forced to leave Delhi after Rijiju's statement "sounded like a threat" to her life.

She had left for her home in Punjab after withdrawing from the online campaign she had started against the ABVP following reported threats from the RSS-backed outfit.

Facing flak over his statement, Rijiju had yesterday said his remark on who was "polluting" the mind of an army martyr's daughter was aimed at "the Leftists".

He had also said she was free to express her views.

Kaur, daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh, who was killed by militants in Jammu and Kashmir in 1999, made a video asking India and Pakistan to amicably settle their disputes.

She had held a placard, saying, "Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him."

Kaur had claimed that she was getting "rape threats" from unknown persons after she spoke against the ABVP.