Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday, 17 May, took a jibe at BSP supremo Mayawati, saying that she does not know how to handle a husband as she is not married. Athawale's comments came after Mayawati stated that women leaders in BJP are afraid of their husbands meeting Modi as they fear it will result in them being abandoned, reported ANI.
Athawale, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, also added that he respects Mayawati and she should refrain from making such statements.
“Mayawati is making remarks about Modi Ji and his wife. She (Mayawati) is not married, she does not know what a family is, had she been married she would have known how to handle a husband. We respect Mayawati, she should not make such statements,” Athawale told ANI.
The minister also pressed for civility in politics and said a person’s family should not be attacked.
"I feel Mayawati only knows how to accuse people. She is baffled and distributed and which why she is putting such allegations on others. I feel that it is not right to disrespect our Prime Minister like this. I also feel that no one should attack someone's family," he said.
On 13 May, Mayawati had asked women not to vote for Modi as a tribute to his wife, who she said had been abandoned by him.
“I came to know that in BJP, married women are worried when they see their husbands meeting Modi as they fear that Modi may separate them from their husbands, just the way he left his own wife. I appeal all women not to vote for Modi, this would be a true tribute to Modi’s wife who was abandoned,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had told ANI.
Athawale also boasted that Narendra Modi would return to the prime minister’s position and that the National Democratic Alliance would win more than 350 seats.
"I feel that in 2014 we won the election in the name of Narendra Modi Ji but this time we will win the election for the work he has done. Narendra Modi Ji will again become the prime minister. I think BJP will cross 282 seats and NDA will get more than 350 seats this Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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