Madhya Pradesh Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah, who courted a major controversy over his alleged ‘sexist remarks’, on Wednesday tendered his resignation.
“Shah submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today, which was then forwarded to Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, who accepted it,” sources close to Mr. Chouhan told PTI here.
Mr. Shah courted a major controversy over his alleged “sexist” remarks. He had allegedly also made a passing reference to Sadhna Singh, wife of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during a speech in Jhabua.
Following this, Mr. Shah was summoned by state BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar to his residence late last night to clarify his position on the matter.
“Though Shah explained the circumstances in which he gave the speech, it did not go down well with the BJP leadership and he was eventually asked to quit,” the sources said.
The BJP leadership was not happy with the minister’s remark as it gave an issue to the Opposition Congress against the ruling party which has questioned Mr. Chouhan’s credentials on the issue.
The Congress had held state-wide protests on the issue on Tuesday, with the state Congress president Kantilal Bhuria and the Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh slamming Mr. Chouhan for his “silence” on the issue for two-days.
Bhopal unit of Congress, led by party’s media department chairman, Manak Agrawal, had taken placards stating ‘ Sadhna ke samman mein, Congress maidan mein ’ (for protecting honour of Sadhna, Congress on the streets) to embarrass the BJP leadership on the issue.
