A BJP legislator in Uttar Pradesh has been chastised by allies and the Opposition alike for calling BSP chief Mayawati a “blot on womankind” and making other disparaging remarks against her.
Mughalsarai MLA Sadhana Singh had made the remarks in poor taste at a rally on Saturday while referring to the attack on Mayawati by Samajwadi Party workers at a Lucknow guesthouse in 1995 and her recent decision to ally with the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The National Commission for Women said it would issue a notice to Sadhana seeking an explanation.
“Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati… joined hands with those who disrespected her…. She is a blot on womankind…,” Sadhana had said before going on to make a derogatory observation.
Condemning Sadhana’s remarks, Union minister and Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale told a news conference in Lucknow on Sunday that such comments should not be made.
BSP leader S.C. Misra tweeted that BJP leaders had “lost their mental balance after the BSP-SP tie-up” which, he said, was threatening to rock the ruling party’s boat. Misra said Sadhana was “mentally ill”.
“The language used by Sadhana Singh against our party president shows the level of the BJP... their mental illness. Such people should be admitted to the mental hospital in Agra or Bareilly. They (the BJP) have lost their mental balance because of the fear of losing the election in UP,” Misra said.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also denounced Sadhana’s comments. “The remark smacks of desperation and nervousness among BJP leaders and is an affront to all women,” he tweeted.
The Congress described the lawmaker’s comments as “disturbing”.
“One may have differences on issues and ideas but it (the comments) 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.
Trinamul also condemned the “obnoxious language used against Behen Mayawati Ji”.
