Rashtriya Janata Dal’s chief, Lalu Yadav, has taken a potshot at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the mahila samvad yatra, his forthcoming state-wide tour. The tour, which Kumar had planned to take with an aim to interact with women across the state, became a contentious issue when Lalu Yadav said that the chief minister was going to have some ‘eye wash’ with the women during the tour. When responding to reporters, Yadav took time and, in crude language,e took control by saying, “Aankh Sekne Jaa Rahe Hain Apna” (going to ogle), something which has received criticism from the opposing parties.
Both the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) have objected to the remarks as vulgar and objectionable for women. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and the former BJP state president, Samrat Choudhary, said: “We knew Lalu ji is physically unwell, but today he has shown that he also has a sick mindset.”
Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal felt the same and claimed that Lalu Yadav’s comments were vulgar and disgusting to women. “This shows his mindset. They are such remarks that are indecent and insignificant. But, he continued, they mark a serious disrespect towards women.”
The Bihar BJP leader and former minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises, Giriraj Singh, a close ally of Narendra Modi up until he switched sides to join Nitish Kumar, says he is ‘vindicated’ by the insults. “Chhi! Chhi! [Shame].” Rather than question or critique Singh threw more accusations at Lalu Yadav, saying he has made a laughing stock of what was supposed to be about empowering women.
The remarks have also created controversy on social media, and users have termed it as an insult to SC’s and demanded an apology from the RJD leader. Some pundits have criticized such statements for discouraging the provision of space for women in leadership positions. The matter has polarized politics in Bihar further with leaders of JD(U) and BJP coming out in support of this effort of the chief minister.
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