Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala triggered a huge outrage after making a controversial remark against actor-turned-politician and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mathura Hema Malini. "Here is no Hema Malini who can make people licking...no film star. We also respect Hema Malini because she is married to Dharmendra and is our daughter-in-law. These people can be film stars. But, we are not like them. You make me or Gupta ji an MP-MLA so that we can serve you," Surjewala heard saying in the purported video shot at a public event in Haryana.
Regrettably, misogyny has deep roots and is pervasive throughout Indian politics. Several influential leaders and politicians made derogatory comments directed towards women in the past. There are many people on the list, ranging from Dayashankar Singh to Abhijit Mukherjee, who have offended people's feelings with "sexist remarks."
One such incident is when former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh raked up a controversy by making a sexist remark against his party colleague and Mandsaur MP Meenakshi Natarajan in 2013.
While praising his party colleague's ability to connect with the masses, Singh went on calling her a "100 per cent tunch maal". 'Maal' word is often used to tease or harass women.
When the sexist remark created a stir, his party supporters came forward to defend him saying he was quoted out of context.
Later, Singh cleared his statement by saying he called Natarajan as precious as 100 tonnes of gold. The Congress party distanced itself from the sexist remark by the party leader.
Meenakshi Natarajan's reaction
Natarajan mellowed down the controversy by taking it sportingly. She urged people not to read too much into the statement.
