New Delhi: A controversial remark by Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala about Mathura MP Hema Malini has sparked a row, with BJP leaders saying the Congress is “misogynistic” and “abhors women”.
In a video clip shared by BJP leader Amit Malviya on X, Surjewala, an All India Congress Committee general secretary, is purportedly heard saying, “MLA/MP kyon banaate hain? Taaki vo hamaare aavaaz utha saken, hamaare baat manavaayen, isiliye banaate honge.…koee Hema Malini toh hai nahin, jo chaatne ke liye banaate hain.”
At a rally in Mathura Thursday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed the Congress for being “anti-women”.
“This is the land of Radha Rani… if you insult half the population, not only half the population but the entire country will teach you such a lesson that you will not be able to do politics in future,” he said.
Yogi said the comment reflected the real mindset of the Congress, but the society will never accept insult to “matri shakti (woman power)”.
“Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general,” BJP leader Amit Malviya said in an X post.
Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general. He asks, “MLA/MP क्यों बनाते हैं? ताकि वो हमारी आवाज़ उठा सकें, हमारी बात मनवायें, इसीलिए बनाते होंगे।… pic.twitter.com/JO0UIXSOt1
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 3, 2024
“Who thinks of women as something to lick? That is the most disgusting description someone can come up with. Just the other day, Surjewala’s colleague was asking (the) ‘rate’ of another BJP woman leader, and now this… This is Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. It is misogynistic and abhors women,” he added.
Surjewala, however, claimed that the BJP put out only selected parts of his speech in Kaithal Wednesday. The BJP IT cell “distorted” the video, he said, urging people to watch the entire clip.
The Congress leader shared the entire video on X, saying, “I said we also respect Hema Malini ji a lot. Because she is married to Dharmendra ji, she is our daughter-in-law.”
भाजपा की IT Cell को काट-छांट, तोड़-मरोड़, फ़र्ज़ी-झूठी बातें फ़ैलाने की आदत बन गई है, ताकि वो हररोज़ मोदी सरकार की युवा विरोधी, किसान विरोधी, गरीब विरोधी नीतियों-विफलताओं व भारत के संविधान को ख़त्म करने की साज़िश से देश का ध्यान भटका सके।
पूरा वीडियो सुनिए – मैंने कहा "हम तो… pic.twitter.com/hEtJYaswzE
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 4, 2024
“It has become a habit of BJP’s IT cell to hack, distort and spread fake and false things, so every day they can divert the attention of the country from the anti-youth, anti-farmer, anti-poor policies and failures of the Modi government and the conspiracy to destroy the Constitution of India,” Surjewala said in the X post.
“My statement only was that everyone in public life should be accountable to the public, be it Nayab Saini ji or Khattar ji or myself. For everyone, it’s make or break based on their work. The public is supreme; in elections, they have to vote conscientiously using their discretion. My intention was not to insult Hema Malini ji or hurt anyone,” he said in the post.
“BJP itself is anti-women, which is why it sees and understands everything through the anti-women lens and spreads lies, according to its convenience,” he added.
Surjewala also attacked the BJP back, saying, “While the BJP’s anti-women pawns received orders to edit the video, they never asked the Prime Minister why he said ’50 crore girlfriend’ in Himachal, why a woman MP was called ‘Shurpanakha’ in Parliament, why a woman CM was trolled in a vulgar way. Is it correct to say ‘Congress widow’? Is it right to call the top leadership of Congress ‘Jersey cow’?”
Hema Malini Thursday said she’s not bothered by the Opposition. “The people of Mathura are with me, and they are all very happy,” she told reporters.
“They target only popular people because targeting the unpopular ones would not do them any good… They should learn how to respect women from PM Narendra Modi… I am here to file my nomination, and on this happy occasion, I do not want to talk about what anyone else said,” she added.
Kangana Ranaut, the BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi, also attacked the Congress while sharing Surjewala’s video clip.
She said the Congress was talking about “opening a shop of love, but it has opened a shop of hatred”.
“The Congress leaders, who have degraded views towards women, are behaving worse day by day in frustration and despair of their inevitable defeat,” Ranaut added.
Earlier, the BJP leaders had demanded Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge sack Supriya Shrinate over a “disgusting” post aimed at actor Kangana Ranaut.
Surjewala’s comment on Hema Malini, a two-term Mathura MP whom the BJP has renominated from Mathura, came days after the Election Commission of India (ECI) censured Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and BJP MP Dilip Ghosh for their derogatory comments on women leaders.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)