Reacting to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s derogatory remarks on birth control, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said on Wednesday that the statement made by the Bihar CM is “shameful, condemnable, and painful.”
“He (Nitish Kumar) is a very senior leader, and his statement is shameful, condemnable, and painful. This shows the established low mentality of the leaders of the INDIA bloc for women,” the BJP leader said.
He also questioned the silence of Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the matter and said that instead of using the word “inclusive alliance” in the INDIA bloc, it should be named “abusive alliance”.
“Why are Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi silent on this matter? The members of their alliance have previously also made derogatory remarks about women. On one side, we are naming the touchdown spot of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface as the ‘Shiv Shakti’ point, and on the other side, the leaders of the INDIA bloc are abusing the women of the country. This clearly shows the difference between theirs and our thoughts,” the BJP leader said.
“Instead of naming their bloc, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, they should remove the word ‘inclusive’ and add ‘abusive alliance’. First, they used to abuse the leaders of the BJP, then the leaders of their own alliance and now they are abusing the women of the country,” he added.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed in the Bihar Assembly during the ongoing Winter Session on Wednesday as opposition members rushed to raise slogans against CM Nitish Kumar over his objectionable remarks on birth control the day before.
The Bihar CM quickly apologised for his remarks and said, “I apologise and take back my words,” he told reporters after BJP legislators did not allow him to enter the legislative assembly.
On Tuesday, speaking on the floor of the Assembly, the Bihar Chief Minister said women should be educated as it would enable them to avoid sexual intercourse resulting in pregnancy.
Addressing the Winter Session of the Assembly during a debate on caste census on Tuesday, the CM made bizarre remarks while underscoring the need for girls’ education to check population growth in the state.
Kumar, in his address to the Assembly, claimed that the fertility rate of the state, which was earlier at 4.3 percent, has now dropped to 2.9 percent, per a report last year.
His remarks drew outrage from the BJP as well as the chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW), who demanded that he tender an unconditional apology.
Defending Nitish Kumar, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said that it was wrong to misinterpret the Chief Minister’s remarks as he was speaking about sex education.
“Let me tell you one thing. It is wrong if someone misinterprets it. The remarks of the CM were regarding sex education. People are hesitant whenever the topic of sex education is discussed. This is now taught in schools. Science and biology are taught in schools. Children learn it. He said what should be done practically to stop the increase in population. This should not be taken in a wrong manner. It should be taken as a sex education,” Yadav said.