BJP minister resigns over his ‘indecent’ remarks on women

Caught in a dispute over a controversial speech, Madhya Pradesh minister for tribal affairs Vijay Shah tendered his resignation to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Vijay Shah, while addressing a summer camp of tribal girl students in Jhabua district on Sunday, had allegedly used sexual innuendos against some BJP women leaders including chief minister’s wife Sadhna Singh.

As the state Congress took to the streets burning the minister’s effigies to protest against his 'disrespectful’ speech against women, the state BJP summoned Shah for an explanation. At first the minister tried to evade the situation by getting admitted in a private hospital in Indore. But pressure from the state BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar brought him to Bhopal in the late night hours on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, state BJP chief said, 'Vijay Shah reached Bhopal late in the night and voluntarily expressed his wish to resign from the cabinet. He regretted his speech and said that he never intended to dishonour women or hurt anyone’s feelings. He also requested us to watch the full video of his speech because the media had sensationalised the matter.'