New Delhi: BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has surpassed himself, coming out with a statement which is shocking even by his own standards. His latest burst of sensationalism is that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi is bipolar and that she beats up people. ,‘‘She has a disorder of bipolarity. She beats up people. Her ailment does not make her fit to lead a public life. The public should know when she is likely to lose mental balance,’ he said in Hindi as he spoke with ANI.
Swamy offered no medical proof to buttress his claim of a bipolar disorder, which is marked by mercurial mood swings, or cite any instance of her alleged aggression. One would leave the sweeping statement alone with the contempt it deserves but the BJP leader’s observations seem to fit a peculiar pattern, ever since Priyanka decided to look monitor the political landscape in east UP.
Take, for instance, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya’s swipe at the Congress party over Priyanka’s appointment. He told a public gathering that it is the dearth of strong leaders in the party which has made it dependent on ‘chocolatey faces’ for 2019 elections. That is almost a take-off on BJP minister from Bihar Vinod Narayan Jha’s sexist observation that elections cannot be won on the basis of beautiful faces.
It is apparent that BJP is clearly unnerved by Priyanka’s debut but what came as even a bigger shock on Sunday was Madhya Pradesh minister Sajjan Singh Verma’s equally misogynistic reaction to Priyanka’s political baptism. ‘‘It is BJP’s bad luck that they do not have someone as beautiful as Priyanka Gandhi in their party. They have one Hema Malini and they keep making her dance to capture, some votes.” Not only that; according to ANI, Verma also said, ‘‘Chikne chehre unke paas nahi hain. (They don’t have, any pretty faces).
