The Bihar Women’s Commission took suo motu note of the remarks made by Independent MP Pappu Yadav on women, saying that politicians “prey” on women and that they cannot enter politics without going to the “male leader’s room”.
The state women’s body issued a notice to Yadav asking him to respond within three days on why he made the statements and why his Lok Sabha membership should not be cancelled.
What did Babu Yadav say?
The notice comes in the wake of a series of remarks made by Yadav on the condition of women in society and politics, while speaking about the recent Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill which was rejected in the Lok Sabha due to disagreement over the demarcation issue.
Pappu Yadav said, “…In India, women are called ‘goddesses’, but they will never be respected here. The system and society are responsible for this.”
“Who indulges in domestic violence? Who preys on women, from America to India, it’s politicians! 90% of women cannot start politics without going to the male leader’s room,” he said.
He added, “The culture of exploiting women has become ingrained.”
“Go to school, your daughter is facing exploitation; Go to college, exploitation is in the name of subversion; Go to office, exploitation is also there…” Yadav said. “Leaders act like vultures towards women.”
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Violent reaction to Pappu Yadav’s comments
Reacting to these statements, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said:
“Shocking statement! When the nation is pushing for Nari Shakti, look what the Congress-backed MP is saying! Controversial statement by MP Pappu Yadav on women’s rooftops,” Poonawalla wrote on X.
He added, “He said that 90% of women cannot practice politics without going to the leader’s room. This is their mentality.”
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Why the statements?
The controversy comes amid a political backdrop as the Government’s Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which aims to implement reservation for women and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, was defeated in the House of Representatives last Friday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the BJP-led government would remove every obstacle in the way of women’s reservation, stressing that the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill does not mean “we have lost.”
In his address to the nation, Modi also attacked the opposition parties for opposing the Constitution Amendment Bill, which was linked to delimitation, and targeted the Congress in particular.
