MP: Congress protests against minister Vijay Shah, demands his ouster from cabinet

Indore: Congress on Wednesday staged protests here against Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah over his objectionable comments that appeared to be directed at Colonel Sofia Qureshi, whom he tried to project as a "sister of terrorists".

Shah, the tribal affairs minister, should be sacked from the cabinet, the opposition party demanded.

During a demonstration led by the Congress Mahila Morcha (women's wing) at the Regal square, party workers shouted slogans against the minister and burned his effigy.

They also held a banner which described Col Qureshi as "Bharat ki Sherni" (India's tigress).

"Shah has made a very objectionable statement about a woman army officer. We demand that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav should immediately remove him from the cabinet," said city Congress president Surjit Singh Chaddha.

In another protest by the Congress elsewhere in the city, party workers poured milk on Col Qureshi's picture in a gesture of reverence, and demanded that Shah be sacked.

Colonel Qureshi came into the spotlight as she conducted regular press briefings during Operation Sindoor along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

"These people (terrorists) who had wiped out the sindoor (vermilion) of our sisters (in the Pahalgam terror attack)...We avenged these 'kate-pite' people by sending their sister to destroy them," Shah said on Monday at a function in Mhow area.