'Leave the house': Union Minister lashes at Kerala crowd for not chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'

Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi on Saturday lashed out at a section of the audience at a youth conclave in Kerala's Kozhikode for not chanting the "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". Lekhi was addressing a Youth Conclave 2024 today in Kozhikode on Saturday.

After concluding her speech, she chanted "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and asked the audience to repeat it. However, she did not find the response from one side of the audience not satisfactory.

The minister again asked the section of the audience to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. However, they again did not chant the slogan. A visibly irked Lekhi then asked them whether Bharat was not their mother and even suggested a woman, who was reluctant to raise the slogan, leave the venue.

"Is Bharat only my mother or your mother as well? Tell me...Tell me...Is there any doubt? No doubt?... Enthusiasm needs to be expressed," the minister said. She repeated the slogan and said that the response from the left-side audience was still poor.

Pointing at a woman in the audience, Lekhi said, "The lady in yellow (dress) can stand up. Don't look at the sides. This is how I am going to speak to you. I am going to ask you a straight question. Bharat is not your mother? Why this attitude?"

Lekhi again chanted Bharat Mata Ki Jai. The woman was still standing idle, doing nothing. "I think you should leave the house," she said.

The minister also made it clear that someone who does not feel proud of the nation and who finds it embarrassing to speak about India, need not be part of the youth conclave.