On Thursday, Rekha Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW), revealed that over 100 people gathered outside her office in support of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Gujarat unit head Gopal Italia, threatening her for summoning Italia over a video in which he used derogatory language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and using misogynist slurs.
According to reports, Italia was detained by the police for 2 hours to control the situation outside the NCW office and was released later. “We received a call from NCW officials alleging that Italia’s supporters were creating a ruckus at the NCW office. We went to the spot and had to detain him to control the situation. He was released after two-and-a-half hours,” said a senior police officer.
“He denied receiving a summon but his reply is ready. He also claimed that he was not present in the video but in his reply he accepts tweeting. He had claimed that it was not him in the video,” Sharma told ANI.
The NCW chief also pointed out that the written statement and verbal statement do not match. “His statement and written statement don’t match. He has not given a proper reply. I’ve asked the police that action should be taken against Italia and his supporters. His supporters tried to enter the NCW office forcibly,” she said.
“I couldn’t step out to attend an important meeting. If 100-150 people gather and threaten me, what kind of leader are they? He had to come to the NCW office and answer a few questions,” she added.
Sharma on Thursday said that AAP workers gathered outside her office to hold a protest after the Commission summoned Gopal Italia over a video where he was allegedly seen making derogatory remarks about PM Modi.
The NCW chief shared a photo on Twitter on Thursday and wrote, “All the @/AamAadmiParty hooligans are outside my office creating a ruckus.”
All the @AamAadmiParty hulligons are outside my office creating ruckus. @CPDelhi @SouthwestDcp @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/7N698OAcRK
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) October 13, 2022
Later, Sharma in a series of tweets slammed Gopal Italia for giving contradictory statements, making excuses like not knowing Hindi and creating a law and order situation.
Mr. @Gopal_Italia was given enough time to reply on his abusive tweet where his verbal statement was contradictory to written statement and when he had no reply he started saying that he doesn’t know Hindi. He was time and again going to his advocates for seeking their help.
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) October 13, 2022
Notably, A video of Gopal Italia, the president of the Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat state unit, making disparaging remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone viral on social media. Gopal Italia can be seen in the video berating PM Modi and calling him names. The video’s release date is uncertain, but it appears to be in 2019, during the run-up to the general election.
Gopal Italia said in the video, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a ‘neech’ person.” I cannot confirm, but I would like to ask if there is any former Prime Minister of the country who has done so many gimmicks while going to vote? This ‘neech’ type of person is doing road shows here. And he’s demonstrating how I’m making this country C. You have a better understanding of the meaning of C. He talks about digital India and rushes from Delhi to Gujarat to vote. This is how he makes country C. So, this neech is giving a message to the country about how he is making this country C.”
Language of president Aam Aadmi party Gujarat @Gopal_Italia 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/366FXSyLHY
— Atul Ahuja🇮🇳 (@atulahuja_) October 9, 2022
Interestingly, this is not the first time an opposition leader has referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘Neech.’ Mani Shankar Aiyar, a veteran Congress leader, called PM Modi a neech aadmi in 2017, a remark he repeated ahead of the 2019 elections. At the time, the people of India responded to Aiyar with a historic verdict for PM Modi. It remains to be seen how the people of Gujarat react to Gopal Italia’s ‘neech’ remark against Narendra Modi.
