New Delhi: Opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, February 8, slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while claiming that a party member Chandra Prakash Joshi glorified the abolished practice of ‘sati’.According to news reports, Joshi, who proposed the motion of thanks to the President’s address, said, “Rani Padmavati jinhone apne satitva ki raksha ke liye Alauddin Khilji ko kabhi chehra nahin dikhaya. (Rani Padmavati who never showed her face to Alauddin Khilji to protect her chastity).”“She threw herself into a raging fire along with her 16,000 female consorts. But your government put up obstructions around this place. Our government has now recognised this site,” the BJP MP from Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh said.After his comments, the members of the Opposition protested and stormed into the Lok Sabha well.Padmavati, the Queen of Mewar, is believed to have immolated herself to “protect her honour” from Allaudin Khilji.Opposition members Supriya Sule from the Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Kanimozhi, Dayanidhi Maran, and A. Raja, K. Muraleedharan from Congress, and Imtiaz Jaleel from AIMIM were on their feet claiming that Joshi had glorified the practice of ‘sati’, NDTV reported.However, Joshi said that he had not made any reference to the practice of ‘sati’, but mentioned that Padmavati had performed ‘jauhar‘ (self-immolation) to protect her honour.“I stand by my words,” he said, as opposition members raised slogans in the well of the House.