NEW DELHI: At the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged leaders to refrain from speaking out of turn, as the BJP faces backlash over off-the-cuff remarks made by two party members in the wake of Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terrorist attack, news agency PTI reported citing sources.The BJP found itself stuck in a political quagmire after Madhya Pradesh MP Vijay Shah, in a public meeting, made a derogatory remark against Col Sophia Qureshi.The minister was referring to India’s offensive against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.Later on Friday, the minister, who is facing an SC-ordered inquiry for his comments on Col Sofiya Qureshi, issued a video apology, calling his remarks a ‘linguistic mistake’.Five days before the May 28 SC hearing, when the SIT probe is to be submitted, Shah released a 45-second video on X saying he did not intend to ‘offend any community’, and has “sincerely apologised to the entire Indian Army, sister Colonel Sofiya and all the countrymen”. This time, the apology was with folded hands and without the phrase: ‘if anyone is hurt’. On Monday, SC had dismissed his first apology as ‘crocodile tears’. The MP minister has not been seen in public since his May 11 remarks triggered nationwide outrage.While the party remained mum on the issue, another loose comment from Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra replenished the opposition’s political ammunition to train guns at the BJP.Ram Chander Jangra, who is an Upper House MP from Haryana, speaking at an event, said the women lacked the courage and spirit of warrior women, “and that is why the death toll was high”.He further claimed that the victims died “with folded hands” and suggested that if they had received training under central government schemes, they might have been able to resist the attackers and reduce the number of casualties.
