The Central government this month brought the women's reservation bill in a special parliament session to reserve one-third of the total seats in parliament and state assemblies for women. The bill has now become law after the assent of President Droupadi Murmu. While the bill got the backing of almost all parties, the row around it owing to controversial remarks hasn't died down. Now, RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui is on the receiving end for his "women with lipstick and bob cut will come in name of reservation" remarks.


BJP has opened an all-out attack on the entire opposition bloc of I.N.D.I alliance alleging that Siddiqui's statement shows the thought process of the opposition parties. He asked why there has been no comments from Congress or any other party over the statement so far, and accused Congress of joining hands with '"anti-women" parties.


"This is not just the statement and thought process of RJD. It is the thought process of the entire INDI alliance today. When we are passing the constitutional guarantee under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi for women's reservation, 50 per cent population of this country are being humiliated and insulted by the INDI alliance," he said.






"No leader of the INDI alliance or Congress Party has condemned the statement, which means they agree with it... In the parliament, we have seen SP, and RJD tearing the copies of women's reservation bills earlier. Congress party has always stood with such parties because it is anti-women... Congresswomen are unsafe in the Congress Party itself..." Poonawalla added.


BJP MP Sunita Duggal blamed it on the "narrow mindset" of the RJD leader and said, "...Women are making a mark in every area... Giving such statements represents their rude mentality...They want women to do only household work and not contribute to the outside world..."






MP from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), an I.N.D.I.A member, Mahua Maji also advised leaders against making such statements. She said that this reservation has nothing to do with "lipstick or bob cut".






"We are in the 21st century today... One should avoid making such statements, which can hurt women...We also want the women from backward classes to come forward... We are also talking about the reservation of SC, ST, and OBC women in the Women's Reservation Bill..." she said.






Union Minister Kaushal Kishore also condemned the RJD leader's statement and said that women coming to parliament talk about everyone's welfare. "... Just like the two wheels of a vehicle, women and men in the Parliament and Vidhan Sabha will work together to make laws for public interests..." he said.


 


'Used That Language To...': RJD Leader Clarifies Comment


Meanwhile, as the controversy depended, RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui said that he used such language (lipstick, bob-cut) only to make the rural women understand what he was saying. He also expressed regret adding it was not his intention to hurt anyone.






"In that rally, hundreds of rural women were there... I used that language to explain to the rural woman in their language. My intention was not to hurt anyone... If someone is hurt, I express regret... It was a gathering of extremely backward classes and I was teaching them... RJD had been in support of Women's Reservation since the beginning..."