New Delhi: Maharashtra BJP minister Girish Mahajan, who was on a protest march demanding implementation of women’s reservation law when he was publicly confronted by a woman, said Wednesday she was frustrated because of traffic disruption and should not have used inappropriate language.
The BJP organised the march Tuesday from Jamboori Maidan to NSCI Dome in Worli to protest the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill in Parliament last week. The government has linked the bill to implementation of the women’s reservation law.
The march snarled traffic across the central Mumbai route.
A video that circulated widely on social media showed the woman berating Mahajan for blocking roads and demanding the protest be held on a ground rather than the city’s streets. In the footage, she also rounds on Mumbai Police personnel present at the scene as Mahajan attempts to respond.
Recounting the confrontation, Mahajan told reporters, “Yesterday when the morcha was underway, one of our sisters came and she was extremely angry. She communicated her anger. She was speaking very rudely. She could have complained to the police. I was there giving a byte to media persons.”
“In a fit of anger, she also picked up a bottle of water and threw it. We have seen all of this on video. Her language was not appropriate,” he added.
VIDEO | Maharashtra: A lady stuck in traffic lost her cool during BJP's protest over Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam on a road of Mumbai earlier today.
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/JaETeVppiT
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 21, 2026
सामान्य जनतेला वेठीस धरणाऱ्या व्हीआयपी कल्चरचा जनतेला आता कंटाळा आला आहे. लोकांचा संयम ढळू लागला आहे, त्यातूनच मुंबईतील एका महिलेने मंत्री गिरीश महाजन यांची त्यांच्यामुळे झालेल्या वाहतुक कोंडीवरून खरडपट्टी काढली. pic.twitter.com/uomMBSUlGk
— Prashant Dhumal (@prash_dhumal) April 21, 2026
The minister did not apologise for the disruption but said the party would ensure no one was disturbed during its protests and political activities.
The central government had said that the bill, which would have effectively increased the number of Lok Sabha seats, was introduced in Parliament to implement the women’s reservation law. Opposition parties contended that women’s reservation was a ruse and that the BJP was only bringing the bill to increase representation of MPs from northern states, where the party is more popular, compared with South India.
At Tuesday’s march, Mahajan had said that it was women’s power taking to the streets against Congress. “The way Congress opposed the bill has caused a lot of anger among women,” he declared at the rally.
The Opposition moved quickly to criticise Mahajan over the confrontation with the woman.
Congress leader Nana Patole said: “This is the result of the arrogance of power, the misuse of power. They wanted to stage a protest for women’s reservation, but a woman herself was questioning them. In the history of Maharashtra, this is perhaps the first time that a minister has had to bear such brickbats on the streets.”
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) MP Sanjay Raut said the confrontation reflected public anger and accused the BJP of “lying to people” while raising issues through morchas.
(Brian Pinheiro is a TPSJ alumni and an intern with ThePrint)
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