Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi hits out at audience for not chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'
Kozhikode (Kerala), Feb 3: Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday lashed out at a section of the audience at a youth conclave here for not chanting the "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" slogan despite she repeatedly asked them to do so.
A visibly irked Lekhi asked them whether Bharat was not their mother and even suggested a woman, who was reluctant to raise the slogan, to leave the venue.
The conclave was organised by certain right-wing outfits.
Concluding her speech, the senior BJP leader chanted "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and asked the audience to repeat it.
As the response from the audience was not as expected, she asked whether Bharat was not their home.
"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 Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture 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 on to 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.
Union Minister and BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi loses her cool at Kerala audience for not responding loud enough to her "Bharat Mata ki Jai" chants in Kozhikode. She later asks the lady in the audience to leave the house. What arrogance! pic.twitter.com/xheHDEtwRX
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Man suspected to have contracted GBS dies in Maharashtra; cases top 100 in Pune
Pune (PTI): A man suspected to have contracted Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) has died in Maharashtra's Solapur district, while the number of cases of the immunological nerve disorder in Pune has crossed 100, health officials said on Monday.
This is possibly the first death in Maharashtra suspected to have been caused by the GBS.
The man, native of Solapur, had come to Pune, where he is suspected to have contracted the disease.
He died in Solapur, an official said without giving more details.
"The total number of GBS cases in Pune on Sunday increased to 101, comprising 68 males and 33 females. Of these, 16 patients are on ventilator support. One suspected death has been reported in Solapur," the state health department official said.
Meanwhile, the Rapid Response Team (RRT) and the Pune Municipal Corporation's health department continued surveillance in the affected Sinhgad Road areas here.
A total of 25,578 houses have been surveyed so far, including 15,761 in the Pune Municipal Corporation limits, 3,719 in Chinchwad Municipal Corporation limits, and 6,098 houses in the district's rural areas, the official said.
GBS is a rare condition that causes sudden numbness and muscle weakness, with symptoms including severe weakness in the limbs, loose motions etc.
Bacterial and viral infections generally lead to GBS as they weaken the immunity of patients, according to doctors.
While GBS is prevalent in both paediatric and young-age groups, it will not lead to an epidemic or pandemic, they said, adding that most patients recover fully with treatment.
The state health department set up the Rapid Response Team to investigate the sudden rise in this infection after 24 suspected cases were found initially.
