The comment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on last Tuesday at an election rally in Rajasthan has drawn flak from the opposition with Congress leading the condemnation of remark.
In his speech last week, Modi accused the Congress of multiple scams, including in the Widow Pension Scheme, and asked “Ye Congress ki kaun si vidhwa thi jiske khate mein paisa jaata tha? (Which Congress widow got the money in her account?)”. The noticeable reference was to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was widowed with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has also slammed Prime Minister Modi for the remark and termed it as a sexist, insensitive and baseless allegation.
“By calling Sonia Gandhi a widow, the prime minister has insulted the entire women fraternity of the country and world which definitely includes his (Modi’s) mother as well. Modi who is a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Pracharak and has an anti-women mindset has played an extremely low level of politics by engulfing millions in the name of girl child and women empowerment,” APCC spokesperson Mina Toko said in a statement on Tuesday.
How can Modi’s scheme of prevention of trafficking and rescue work when RSS Pracharaks have raped school girls?
How can the PM assure that the Sukanya Samridhi Yojna and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao schemes are benefitting the girls when female foeticide is at the extreme in the country?
Making such repulsive remarks on Sonia Gandhi who is at the zenith of Indian politics clearly shows Modi’s attitude towards women and the same is unexpected, Toko said.
The Congress further said that the prime minister’s Tuesday’s remark has proved that his slogan of women empowerment is hollow and degrades the existence of women itself.