Chandigarh : Senior Haryana BJP leader and former home minister of the state, Anil Vij on Thursday slammed Congress leader Randeep Surjewala for his alleged derogatory remarks against BJP MP Hema Malini and said that his statement shows the Congress's attitude towards women.
''Surjewala ji's statement about Hema Malini is nothing new. This is Congress's attitude towards women,'' Anil Vij told reporters here. He said that Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate has also made similar comments about Kangana Ranaut, Bollywood actor and BJP's candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh.
He said that Congress's views and approach towards women are mentioned in the book "The Insider" written by former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.
"Their (Congress's) former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao had written a book 'The Insider', in that book, what are their (Congress's) thoughts and views towards women, it was written on page 767 of it."
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, wants to bring women forward, and to advance women, the Nari Shakti Bill has been passed in the Parliament to give 33 per cent representation to women in the Parliament and the state Assemblies.
Meanwhile, reacting to Surjewala's remark, Hema Malini on Thursday said that the leaders of the opposition should learn how to respect women from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"They target only popular people because targeting the unpopular ones won't do them any good... They should learn how to respect women from PM Narendra Modi," she said.
Hema further expressed her happiness over her re-nomination in the Lok Sabha elections from Mathura. "I am very happy to get the opportunity to serve the people of Mathura for the third time. I will finish the work that could not be done in my two terms. This time, huge development projects will be launched for the people of Mathura. UP CM Yogi Adityanath extends all possible help for Mathura," she said while speaking to news agency.
Notably, the general elections for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases, with the first scheduled for April 19. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.
Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.
Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13. The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1, respectively.
Mathura will poll in the second phase of the general elections on April 26. Nearly 97 crore voters will be eligible to get their fingers inked as polling is held for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.
The elections will be conducted at 10.5 lakh polling stations, under the supervision of 1.5 crore polling officials and security staff.
After facing a backlash from the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party over his alleged objectionable statement against BJP MP Hema Malini, Randeep Surjewala on Thursday clarified that he never intended to insult or hurt the actor-politician.
Surjewala's clarification comes after BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya shared an undated video on X and accused the Congress MP of making some objectionable remarks about Hema Malini.
"Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general.
He asks, 'Why do we make MLA? So that they can raise their voice, and get our views accepted. Is there any Hema Malini who is made to lick?' Who thinks of women as something to lick? That is the most disgusting description someone can come up with. Just the other day, Surjewala's colleague was asking the 'rate' of another BJP woman leader, and now this... This is Rahul Gandhi's Congress. It is misogynistic and abhors women," Malviya posted on X.