Lucknow: A lawmaker of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh has drawn severe criticism from the opposition for offensive comments targeting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati who, she said, “was a blot on womankind”, accusing her of “selling her dignity for power”.
“She (Mayawati) has no self-respect… she was almost molested earlier and yet… in history, when Draupadi was molested, she took a vow to seek revenge… but this woman, she lost everything, but still sold her dignity for the sake of power. We strongly condemn Mayawati ji. She is a blot on womankind. A woman who gulped insults for comfort and power … is a blot on womankind,” Sadhana Singh, the legislator from Mughalsarai, said at a rally on Saturday.
The lawmaker’s comments were in apparent reference to the infamous episode when Mayawati was assaulted by Samajwadi Party workers at a guest house in Lucknow in 1995 that triggered decades of animosity. That ended when the two parties decided to come together for the national elections in Uttar Pradesh, with a “gathbandhan” or alliance announced at a joint press conference by Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav last week. The BSP chief said that she had decided to put the past behind her “for the sake of the nation”, seemingly aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had, at a rally, taunted her for “forgetting” that episode while allying with the Samajwadi Party.
The BJP lawmaker’s comments drew a sharp reaction from Mayawati’s party which said that the language reflected the party’s “frustration with the SP-BSP alliance”. “They have lost their mental balance in fear of losing the election in Uttar Pradesh,” said the BSP’s Satish Chandra Mishra.
Akhilesh Yadav, who had declared that “insulting Mayawati ji is like insulting me” shortly after formalising their alliance, strongly condemned the remarks, saying it was an “insult to the women of the country” and an indicator of the BJP’s “moral bankruptcy and hopelessness”.
The Congress, cold-shouldered by Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav for the alliance in UP, described the lawmaker’s comments as “disturbing”.
“One may have differences on issues and ideas but it is disturbing: -That this lady represents the ruling party in UP-BJP (not surprising) -To hear a lady speak in such a derogatory way about another lady -To see people in the audience cheering such words,” Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted.
Taking note of her objectionable remarks, the National Commission for Women said it will send a notice to the BJP lawmaker.
This is not the first time that a BJP leader has made objectionable remarks against Mayawati. In 2016, a senior UP BJP leader Dayashankar Singh was expelled for using “filthy language” against Mayawati. His wife Swati Singh, who defended him at that time, is now a minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state.
