New Delhi: Taking a jibe at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Friday condemned Karnataka MLA K.R. Ramesh Kumar’s sexist comment in the state assembly and said the grand old party should first suspend its leader before talking about women empowerment and raising slogans like “Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon” in Uttar Pradesh.
Irani said it is extremely shameful that a Congress leader has made a comment in the Karnataka Assembly that “one should enjoy while a woman gets raped”.
“It is extremely shameful that inside Vidhan Sabha, a Congress leader has given a shameful statement about women that ‘one should enjoy while a woman gets raped’,” she said, ANI reported.
Expressing her discontentment over the Congress MLA’s remark, the Union Minister speaking in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day demanded that the political party concerned should first bring the person to justice.
“If you truly believe in the cause of women, first stand here and denounce that legislator who said that if you are raped, as a woman in the country you should enjoy it,” said Irani without mentioning the party’s name, PTI reported.
“Those men who stand in this Well today, go back to your political organisation and first bring to justice such a man, then we will see who speaks for women and children in this country,” she added amid Opposition protests demanding Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Misra Teni’s removal in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh earlier in October.
Irani’s outburst against the Congress comes as Priyanka Gandhi has been reaching out to the feminine gender as part of her party’s 100-day women outreach programme “Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon” in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh, which votes next year.
Earlier in the day, the Congress MLA apologized for his sexist comment in the Karnataka Assembly stating that it was an ‘off the cuff remark’.
Stating that his intention was not trivialise or make light of the heinous crime, he added that he would choose his words carefully henceforth.
“I would like to express my sincere apologies to everyone for the indifferent and negligent comment I made in today’s assembly about “Rape!” My intention was not trivialise or make light of the heinous crime, but an off the cuff remark! I will choose my words carefully henceforth!” he tweeted.