Statements by politicians before the by-elections have begun to kick up dust.
MP Pradesh Congress Committee president Kamal Nath called Women and Child Development Minister Imarti Devi an ‘item’. He made the statement at a meeting in Dabra on Sunday.
Nath told the audience that he should have warned them about what kind of ‘item’ was she. The former chief minister said he did not know how he should have called her.
In a recent statement, Imarti Devi accused Nath of giving Rs 5 lakh every month to each legislator, who was not given ministerial berth.
After that, Nath said about Imarti Devi that she spoke of crores of rupees. But by calling Imarti Devi an ‘item’, Nath has handed a major issue to the BJP.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Imarti Devi is the name of the daughter of a farmer, who began her career as a daily labourer.”
Now, she is working as a public servant to build the nation, he said, adding that, the Congress had called him starved bare, and now, the party used a word like ‘item’ for a woman.
This shows the Congress’s feudal mindset, he said.
A delegation of the BJP urged the Election Commission to stop Nath from campaigning for the by-elections. The party leaders also demanded that an FIR should be registered against Nath for the above statement.
General secretary of the party’s state unit, Kavita Patidar, said she would complain to the National Women’s Commission about it.
Party’s state unit president VD Sharma said Nath was so scared of his party’s defeat in the by-elections, that he had gone crazy.
Nath has used a word against a woman during Navaratri when everybody is worshipping Goddess Durga, Sharma said.
Congress’s media coordinator Narendra Saluja said Nath had not mentioned anybody’s name.
The BJP is unnecessarily trying to connect it with Imarti Devi, but anyway, it is their mindset, Saluja said.
Controversial statements being made for bypolls
Controversial statements are regularly made before the by-elections. Before Nath’s calling Imarti Devi an ‘item’, president of the State Kisan Congress, Dinesh Gurjar, had called Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan starved bare.
CM to observe silence today
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has decided to observe silence from 10am to 12 noon in Bhopal on Monday in protest against Nath’s remark on Imarti Devi.
