Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narottam Mishra has stirred up a controversy after he made an indecent remark against yesteryear actor and his party colleague Hema Malini.
Mishra, who is known for walking into controversies, was addressing a poll rally in his Assembly constituency Datia highlighting his party’s achievements ahead of the November 17 Assembly polls in the state.
Addressing the gathering, Mishra said he has developed his constituency in a way that "Hema Malini was made to dance here."
A video of his controversial remark has now went viral on social media and the Opposition grabbed the opportunity to corner the BJP and Mishra terming his statement an "insult to the women".
Sharing the video, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh took a jibe at the leader and the ruling saffron party saying, "Listen to the real meanness of the honourable minister of Sanskari BJP towards women.”
“He doesn't even spare his own party leader,” Singh said.
The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly will undergo polls in single phase on November 17 and the votes will be counted on December 3 along with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram.
A fierce poll battle awaits in Madhya Pradesh between incumbent BJP and the Congress party as the ruling saffron party faces anti-incumbency and Congress looks for a comeback.
Mishra, who won three consecutive elections (2008, 2013 and 2018) from Datia, is also facing a tough challenge from his old political rival and Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti.
In order to counter the anti-incumbency, the BJP leader has devised a strategy to present himself as a 'vikas purush' of Datia in the election.
As the second most powerful minister, after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan) in the BJP government, Mishra has managed to get a lot of projects for Datia.