The controversy surrounding the vile and sexist remark of Congress leader Randeep Surjewala against veteran actor and BJP Mathura MP Hema Malini has only gotten worse. On Thursday, the National Commission of Women (NCW) condemned the offensive remark made by Surjewala and asked the Chief Election Commissioner to take immediate action against him. The statutory body also requested an Action Taken Report within 3 days.
National Commission for Women strongly denounces the deeply offensive remarks made by Mr. Randeep Surjewala. The remarks are extremely misogynistic and outrageous to the modesty of a woman. Hon’ble Chairperson @sharmarekha has formally written to the Chief Election Commissioner,…
— NCW (@NCWIndia) April 4, 2024
The Haryana State Commission for Women also took cognisance of the remark against the actor and BJP MP and issued a notice to the Congress MP. The state statutory body has asked him to appear before it on April 9.
Haryana State Commission For Women issues notice to Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala over his remarks against actor and BJP MP Hema Malini pic.twitter.com/oqurNUWrmm
— ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2024
Hema Malini reacts
Reacting to the controversy, Hema Malini, said that the leaders of the opposition should learn how to respect women from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to the reporters in Mathura, before filing her nominations for the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leader and Bollywood veteran said that the opposition targets only ‘popular people’.
“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 Malini : "Congress leaders target us due to our popularity. They should learn from PM Modi how to respect women."
— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) April 4, 2024
pic.twitter.com/iKfg1p2Uu3
Randeep Surjewala brazens out his sexist remark, accuses BJP of editing and distorting video
Congress’ Randeep Surjewala responded to the BJP’s criticism over his remark on Hema Malini. He denied insulting the actor-turned-politician. He also accused the saffron party of editing and distorting his video to distract people’s attention from the government’s failures.
BJP tears into Surjewala for his misogynistic remark against Hema Malini
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also hit out at the Congress party over Surjewala’s remark. Calling it a “vulgar sexist” remark, Yogi said that the women would teach a lesson to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
Prior to this, Kangana Ranaut also reacted to the vile and misogynistic remark of the Congress leader. She posted from her X handle, “There was talk of opening a shop of love but Congress has opened a shop of hatred. Congress leaders, who have degrading views towards women, are deteriorating their character day by day in frustration and despair of inevitable defeat.” She also embedded the sexist video of Randeep Surjewala in her tweet.
Surjewala came under fire after BJP leader Amit Malviya yesterday (April 3) shared a video in which the latter could be heard saying that BJP MP Hema Malini had been chosen as an MP only because of her beauty. He also indicated that the other leaders in the Lok Sabha liked staring at her.
“Why do we elect MLA/MP? So that they can raise our voices, and get our views accepted. They are not Hema Malini who is made MP to lick her,” Surjewala was heard saying, the video of which is going viral on social media.
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, “MLA/MP क्यों बनाते हैं? ताकि वो हमारी आवाज़ उठा सकें, हमारी बात मनवायें, इसीलिए बनाते होंगे।… pic.twitter.com/JO0UIXSOt1
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 3, 2024
BJP’s Amit Malviya shared the video and slammed Surjewala saying, “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.”
Hema Malini is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and is again contesting the 2024 general elections from there.
It is important to note that, earlier, Congress leader Suriya Shrinate had made vile and sexist remarks against BJP candidate from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, indicating that the latter was a ‘slut’.
