JDU leader Sharad Yadav and BJP MP Vinay Katiyar courted controversy on 25 January after they made offensive remarks against women.
“Votes are more important that a daughter’s honour,” Yadav said, prompting the National Commission for Women (NCW) to send him a notice, seeking an explanation for the remark.
BJP MP Vinay Katiyar was among those who criticised Yadav for his remark. Ironically, however, Katiyar made an offensive comment about Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, while condemning Yadav.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu condemned Katiyar’s remark and said it was “totally unacceptable”.
When asked about Gandhi being a star campaigner for Congress in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Katiyar tried to reduce her political abilities to her physical appearance.
There are more beautiful women than her who are star campaigners.Vinay Katiyar, BJP MP
Reacting to Katiyar’s statement, Gandhi later said that his remarks exposed “BJP’s mindset towards the better half of the population”.
Gandhi’s husband, Robert Vadra, took to Facebook to condemn Katiyar’s remark. Vadra said that the BJP leader must apologise for his remarks.
We all need to respect women and accept them as equals instead of commodifying and objectifying them. As a society, we need to bring in a change. Vinay Katiyar should publicly apologise for his remarks.
However, Katiyar refused to apologise for his comments and even walked out of an interview with NDTV when asked about the issue.
When questioned by CNN News18 later, Katiyar said:
She’s beautiful, that’s why she’s campaigning to attract crowds. In that context, there are prettier women than her, BJP also has more beautiful women.
Katiyar also justified his comments by accusing the media of focusing on the physical appearance of female politicians.
If someone is beautiful it isn’t bad. I said we have many pretty leaders, like Smriti Irani.
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