Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 8: The BJP led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a frontal attack on the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and through him the entire INDIA bloc of the opposition parties for his alleged defamatory remarks against women in the state Assembly on Tuesday.
Even though Mr Kumar has tendered unconditional apology for his “words” he used while speaking about the role of education among women in practicing birth control, the BJP leaders demanded his resignation claiming that apology was not enough after using derogatory remarks for women and having “lost the mental balance” was no longer fit to remain the chief minister.
“How low Nitish Kumar and the INDIA bloc leaders” will stoop to,” Modi asked the audience while addressing a rally in the election-bound Madhya Pradesh. Referring to “a prominent leader of INDI alliance (the 28-member INDIA opposition bloc)” who had used “indecent language (shamelessly) in the Assembly,” he said “… prominent leader of INDI alliance used indecent language in the Assembly shamelessly. Not a single INDI alliance leader is speaking (against) it. How low will they stoop… and bring shame to the country.”
“Those who watch TV will have seen yesterday… this ghamandiya (arrogant) alliance… this big leader of the INDI alliance used shameful language in the Assembly, where there were mothers and sisters, without any shame. Can such people work for you? Should you respect them?” the PM asked.
In an apparent bid to take full political advantage of the remark, several BJP leaders also asked the people to “remember” Mr Kumar’s remarks when they go to cast their votes in the Parliamentary elections next year. Hours later RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari hit back, wanting to know if the PM apologised for calling veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi a “Jersey cow.” “Did the Prime Minister (ever) apologise for abusive language used against Sonia (Gandhi) ji and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s female friend?” Mr Tiwari asked.
Mr Tiwari stressed Nitish Kumar had apologised “inside and outside” for his remark, which he acknowledged was wrong. “As soon as he (Nitish Kumar) realised he apologised.” “(But) the PM is criticising Nitish Kumar… what is the respect of women in (his) eyes? Are they forgetting they called Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law, and Rajiv Gandhi’s widow, a Jersey cow?”
“Nitish Kumar’s words, for which he has apologised, seem to the Prime Minister to be an insult… but did he not find it insulting to (insult) Tharoor’s friend. Everyone remembers he said “Rs 50 crore ‘girlfriend.”
Over the course of the day multiple BJP leaders have ripped into Nitish Kumar, once an ally – for the “vulgar” comments about the role of women’s education in population control including organising a protest demonstration outside the Bihar Bhavan in Delhi and burning his effigies.
Eager to capitalise on Nitish Kumar’s crass words, ahead of elections in five states this month and next year’s general election, the BJP has dismissed his apology and demanded his resignation. And, like the Prime Minister, they have also attacked INDIA leaders, including Sonia Gandhi.
The contentious remarks were made as Nitish Kumar on Tuesday explained during a debate on the contentious caste survey why Bihar’s fertility rate has dropped from 4.2 to 2.9 per cent. However, the language was slammed as “shameful”, “disgusting” and “vulgar” by the BJP, and National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma demanded Nitish Kumar apologise. The remarks were seen as crude attempts to put the onus of population control on women.
Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar, waylaid by reporters as he tried to enter the Bihar Assembly, said, “I take back my words if anyone (was) hurt”. (My words) were not intended to hurt anybody.” “I apologise and I take back my words. If my words were wrong, I apologise. If anyone got hurt, I take them back,” he said. “(My words) were not intended to hurt anybody. I have always maintained education is necessary for population control. I have also stood for women empowerment and women’s development.”
Based on the report, Nitish Kumar’s government has passed a proposal to raise quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBCs and EBCs – from the existing 50 per cent to 65 per cent. The revised quotas – to which the centre’s 10 per cent for Economically Weaker Sections must be added – will take reservations past the 50 per cent cap ordered by the Supreme Court in 1992.
The attempted clarification aside, Nitish Kumar was targeted by the BJP; the opposition party, formerly his ally, called him a man “whose mind is infested with worms from B-grade adult films.” Union Minister Nityanand Rai – a Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Ujiarpur – said Nitish Kumar had lost his “mental stability” and also hit out at the Deputy Chief Minister for defending his boss.
“It’s objectionable… the way he spoke about women. Tejashwi Yadav’s statement is also objectionable. Nitish Kumar is no longer worthy of being CM. He should detach himself from politics,” Mr Rai said.
The remark was also criticised by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who reminded the Bihar leader “the Legislative Assembly is a sacred place”. Mr Owaisi said, “He could have said, ‘if women are educated enough (they will) be able to decide when to have children’. Instead, he described it through inappropriate words and gestures,” Mr Owaisi said.