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Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, a BJP leader campaigning in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut is the latest to raise the outrage.
In reference to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, BJP’s Jayakaran Gupta said “skirt wali bai” in what was interpreted as a reference to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
“One Congress leader loudly asks, acche din aaye (did you see good times)? They can’t see acche din when a skirt waali bai (those who wear skirts) is visiting temples in saris and those who avoid Ganga waters are treating it as holy,” Gupta said at public rally.
However, Gupta claimed that the remark was not aimed at Priyanka Gandhi. “That comment was not aimed at anyone in particular, BJP does not do politics to gain power. We want power to protect the culture of India and to make it corruption free. Under the able leadership of PM Modi, Nitin Gadkari ji carried out the cleaning of Ganga. Crores of people came from other countries as well for the Kumbh; those who used to wear skirts too came in saris,” Gupta told ANI.
He went on to add: “Sitharaman ji, Sushma ji, Smriti ji all of them have added value to the Indian tradition of wearing saris. Crores of foreigners came to the Ganga and even went to temples. My comments, therefore, are not aimed at anyone directly.”
Few sexist comments have been made since Priyanka Gandhi joined politics in January.
Last month, a BJP lawmaker Harish Dwivedi from Uttar Pradesh said, “Priyanka Gandhi wears jeans and top in Delhi but when she comes to rural areas she wears sari ad indoor.”
Another senior BJP leader, Kailash Vijayavargiya, had said that the Congress was fielding “Chocolatey faces” because it has a shortage of strong leaders. To clarify his stand, he said he had meant film stars and not any political leader.
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US President Donald Trump took a shot on Tuesday at former Vice-President Joe Biden, a possible Democratic rival in the 2020 race for the White House, mocking him over allegations of unwanted physical contact with women.
In a speech to a fundraising dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Trump twice alluded to the allegations from two women that are hanging over Biden as he weighs whether to enter the contest to become the Democratic candidate in November 2020 presidential elections.
A former Nevada state legislator last week accused Biden of kissing her on the back of the head at a 2014 event, and a Connecticut woman said Biden rubbed noses with her at a 2009 event. Biden has said he did not believe he ever acted inappropriately, and his defenders have said he is known for hugging and being physically affectionate.
In wide-ranging remarks that meandered for more than 80 minutes but often circled back to the 2020 race, Biden was the only potential rival Trump mentioned by name – a sign that he would view Biden as a strong challenger, were he to enter and win the Democratic race.
Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama and had a long career in the Senate before that. He had been expected to announce his bid for the Democratic primary race this month and has led the large field of Democratic hopefuls in opinion polls.
Trump told the dinner, which raised $23 million for Republicans running for the House of Representatives, a story about wanting to kiss a general he met in Iraq who had promised an expedient end to a campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria.
“I said, ‘General: come here and give me a kiss.’ I felt like Joe Biden,” Trump said, drawing laughter and applause.
Earlier, he told the crowd – which was dotted with members of the House – that they would be “going into the war with some socialists” in the next election.
“It looks like the only non-, sort of, heavy socialist is being taken care of pretty well by the socialists,” Trump said.
One of Biden’s accusers has been a supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, who has already entered the Democratic primary race, and whose views are to the left of Biden.
“I was going to call him – I don’t know him well – I was going to say, ‘Welcome to the world, Joe. You having a good time, Joe? You having a good time?” Trump said.
Trump struggled during his 2016 run for office with multiple accusations of unwanted sexual contact from women, particularly after videotaped remarks emerged of Trump bragging about groping women.
Biden, while campaigning for Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, had said he would like to take Trump “behind the gym” to beat him up for the comments.
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India on Tuesday sent a note verbale to Pakistan , urging it to make necessary arrangements for an immediate release and repatriation of 10 Indian prisoners who had completed the prison sentence in Pakistani jails.
India has also made a fresh demand seeking consular access to five Indian nationals, including Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose case is pending at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Ministry of External Affairs sent the note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission here in which India has conveyed its “deep concern” over the long pending release and repatriation of Indian prisoner held under Pakistan custody despite completion of sentence and nationality confirmation, MEA sources said.
India has put Jadhav in the category of Indian ‘civilian’ prisoners in Pakistan’s custody with the long-pending request for consular access. Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name figures with four others- Mohammad Javaid, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Ismail, Salfikar Ali.
Former naval officer Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court after being arrested on charges of spying activities in 2016.
In the note verbale India said, “… consular access to Indian fishermen and prisoners in Pakistan jails is inordinately delayed. Such delays cause an avoidable delay in confirmation of their nationality and thus detrimental to the timely release of prisoners and fishermen.”
Consular access for two civilian prisoner in Rawalpindi, which was postponed by the Government of Pakistan is still pending. It is requested that immediate consular access is provided to all those prisoners and fishermen held in Pakistan’s custody and awaiting consular access, the note added. India has been consistently raising with Pakistan its concern regarding missing Indian defence personnel, including Prisoners of War, believed to be in Pakistan’s custody, the note mentioned.
However, no response has been received from the Government of Pakistan in this regard. It is requested that necessary steps may be taken immediately to locate, release and repatriate the missing Indian defence personnel believed to be held in Pakistan custody, it said. India also shared the list of Indian fishing boats held in Pakistan’s custody.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch his Lok Sabha poll campaign in West Bengal on Wednesday with two rallies – one in Siliguri and second at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata.
West Bengal has 42 seats, of which the BJP is eyeing more than 20.
Giving a good fight, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has tweaked her campaign schedule so that she could have the last word in today’s verbal contest.
The TMC campaign, however, was to be officially launched on April 4. Banerjee was expected to launch her campaign in Cooch Behar on Thursday, instead the rally will now be held on Wednesday.
The timing of the rallies has been coordinated in such a way that Banerjee can begin as soon as PM Modi finishes the address.
Derek O’Brien, TMC leader said, “It is not about the first word or last with Mamata Banerjee, it is about conviction.” He added that nobody has tweaked any programme.
“This is an election season. She is our star campaigner by far and she is in demand,” he added.
While the PM will address the rally around 1 pm in Siliguri, Mamata’s rally at Dinhata will begin at 3 pm.
In 2009 Lok Sabha elections the BJP won 6.14 per cent of the votes and secured only one seat. Five years later, the figures climbed to 17.02 per cent and two seats. In comparison, TMC secured 31.18 per cent of the votes and 19 seats in 2009 which rose to 39.79 per cent votes and 34 seats in 2014.
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Launching a torpedo on Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee in her home turf, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called the West Bengal chief minister a “speed breaker” on his development projects. He observated that Ms Banerjee’s “boat has started capsizing.”
Addressing his Lok Sabha Election campaign rally in Siliguri Mr Modi asserted that he could implement his welfare schemes at high speed across the country successfully. He however lamented that he could not maintain the tempo in ensuring the same in West Bengal.
“Do you know the reason behind it? Yes, you have got it right. There is a speedbreaker in West Bengal. The people here know this speed breaker as ‘Didi’. This ‘Didi’ is the speed breaker on the development works for you. Didi is not bothered about the poor. She is more occupied in playing politics over poverty. So how can she work to eradicate poverty? If poverty ceases to exists, Didi’s politics will come to an end also,” Mr Modi told the rally at a railway ground near New Jalpaiguri railway station.
To justify his charges the PM then gave the examples of Aayushman Bharat, a central medical insurance scheme, and other central projects which Ms Banerjee has not allowed in the state. “When the poor suffer from ailments or diseases, they mostly worry about how bear the medical expenses. But what has this Speed breaker Didi done for them? A brake has been applied on a welfare scheme like Ayushman Bharat. The list of activities of Speed breaker Didi is very long. She has also put a brake on the activities of 70 lakhs of farmers and their families. By dint of PM Kisan Yojana, money is directly transferred to their bank accounts. But Didi is Didi. She is the speed breaker after all and so she the did on this scheme too” he noted.
Lashing out at other opposition parties the PM alleged, “The same situation prevails upon the Congress and the Communists also. They need poverty to continue. Their politics lies in keeping the poor people in same fate. That’s why they have applied brakes on the development works for the poor. They have hatched a conspiracy to ensure the poor would not be uplifted.”
Praising the huge turn outs at the rally Mr Modi added, “The presence of this huge crowd clearly tells one thing: Didi’s boat has started capsizing.”
Mr Modi also referred the multi crore chit fund scams which rocked the state few years ago. He accused Ms Banerjee’s cabinet ministers, party MLAs and aides of looting the people’s deposits. “Didi undertook the job of devastating the poor who deposited their small savings with the chit fund firms,” he complained.
