New Delhi [India]: Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his derogatory remarks against women in relation to population control, Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj backed Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and said that sometimes the choice of words is wrong but his (Nitish) intentions were not wrong.
“If his (Nitish Kumar) intentions were bad, then he would have come in the category of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh; sometimes the choice of words is wrong and for this, he has apologised. As far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, there are two things in that statement.
One is intention and one is choice of words,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj.
Questioning Centre’s stand on Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, he said, “His intention was not to hurt anyone’s dignity or harass any woman. If his intentions were bad, then he would have come in the category of Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. The question is why Brijbhushan Sharan Singh has not been questioned yet. Why is the Central Government silent till date? Why did the girls have to go to the Supreme Court to lodge an FIR? These are big questions that the BJP will have to answer.”
Brij Bhushan Singh, a BJP MP from UP, is an accused of sexually abusing several women wrestlers when he was the Wrestling Federation of India chief.
“The wrestler daughters who won medals for the country sat against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a sitting MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party, for months, who was accused of sexual assault. But we did not hear the Prime Minister’s statement, nor did we hear Hemant Biswa Sarma’s statement,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his derogatory remarks against women in relation to population control and said crass words were uttered in the state assembly and there was “no shame”.
Addressing an election rally, PM Modi did not name Nitish Kumar but referred to his remarks made on Tuesday.
PM also attacked the INDIA alliance over Nitish Kumar’s remarks and asked women in the gathering if leaders of the opposition bloc could do any good for them or respect them.
Speaking on pollution in Delhi, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Delhi has such a geological position that some big cities along with it get polluted during this time of the year and the AQI reaches ‘Severe’ level. One option is artificial rain through cloud seeding to settle the smog suspended in the environment. We had a meeting with IIT Kanpur experts and the government will sign an MoU with them and we’ll put it across the court.”
The Bihar Chief Minister on Tuesday sparked a controversy after he used derogatory language in the state assembly to explain the role of education and the role of women in population control. Nitish Kumar was speaking during the winter session of the Bihar Assembly.
The Chief Minister made the remarks while underlining the need for girls’ education to check population growth.
Following an uproar over his remarks, Nitish Kumar on Wednesday apologised and said he is taking back his words.
“If my words were wrong, then I apologise for that. If anyone got hurt by my words, I take them back,” Kumar told reporters.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed in the Bihar Assembly as Opposition members rushed to the well raising slogans against Nitish Kumar over his objectionable remarks on birth control the day before.
Nitish Kumar’s remarks evoked strong condemnation from BJP leaders. His remarks also drew outrage from the National Commission for Women (NCW), which asked him to tender an unconditional apology.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Nitish Kumar now has no right to be Chief Minister of Bihar.
“Nitish Kumar now has no right to be Chief Minister. A person who insults women like this has no right to be a CM. He should leave the position, apologising won’t work,” CM Chouhan said.