A day after videos of a woman confronting Girish Mahajan over traffic chaos during a BJP protest in Mumbai went viral, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader responded to the incident, saying the woman could have “expressed her anger in a different way”.
Speaking about the chaos that occurred during a BJP rally, Mahajan said the woman could have lodged a complaint with the police, adding that he along with other BJP leaders maintained a “calm and collected tone”.
The minister reacted to the confrontational incident that took place in Worli during a Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhinyam-related rally on Tuesday, where the woman angrily called out the disruption caused by the march, sparking political backlash and a wider debate over public inconvenience during the protests.
Read also | Mumbai woman slams BJP MLA over traffic chaos caused by ‘Nari Shakti’ rally: ‘Get out of here’
Girish Mahajan’s statements
“During yesterday’s march, a woman came forward and spoke inappropriately. She could have filed a complaint with the police. She approached me while I was giving a byte. The police tried to counsel her. Women police arrived. We maintained a calm and collected tone. She even threw a bottle.”
“We asked the police not to provoke. We told them to say what they want. We will be more careful in the future.”
He added, “Proper care will be taken during marches and protests. She could have expressed her anger in a different way. We got proper permission for the march. The route was decided in advance. Planning was already in place.”
Read also | Sena and NCP walk away from Mahayoti march for women’s reservation bill
What is happening?
A woman on Tuesday confronted BJP leader Girish Mahajan in Mumbai over severe traffic disruption caused by a protest march he was leading in Worli district, linked to the reservation push for women in Parliament.
The incident occurred while Mahajan was speaking to reporters at a rally centered around Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam, organized to target opposition parties after the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill that was aimed at accelerating 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies in the Lok Sabha.
Videos of the encounter emerged on social media, showing the woman angrily objecting to the traffic jam and asking the BJP MLA to leave the place.
“Get out of here. You’re causing a traffic jam,” she said, wondering why the demonstration was not held in an open space nearby instead of disrupting traffic.
The clips quickly went viral, sparking mixed reactions online, including criticism of the BJP’s protest tactics. Mahajan appears in the videos trying to calm the woman, who continues her agitation, saying: “What do you understand? What’s wrong with you? There are hundreds of people waiting.”
When a police official tried to intervene, she refused to participate and insisted that no one speak to her.
Reaction to chaos
Another video clip showed long queues of vehicles stranded due to the protest.
Reacting to the incident, Harshwardhan Sapkal of the Indian National Congress shared the video, claiming that the ruling party’s campaign on women reservation has revealed its “true face”. He accused the BJP of misleading women for political gain and promoting a “false narrative”.
Sapkal also claimed that the opposition alliance had already blocked the BJP’s “attempt to change the constitutional and electoral processes under the guise of reservation” and said the party was now turning to rallies and propaganda to revive the issue.
“As part of the nationwide Tamasha campaign initiated by the BJP under the guise of women’s reservation, the BJP organized a protest march at Jamboree Maidan in Worli against the opposition parties,” Yogesh Sawant, vice president of the Maharashtra unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), said in a post on X.
