NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of taking a contradictory position on women’s empowerment, saying his criticism of patriarchy does not match his stand on the Women’s Reservation Bill.Fadnavis also attacked the Congress, accusing the party of losing touch with voters and relying on public statements to remain politically relevant.“Their job is just to make speeches every day and stay relevant through television; that’s all they do. They have lost touch with the ground. This party is limited to merely issuing statements,” he claimed.He described the Congress as a “directionless party of show-offs and loudmouths”, alleging that its leaders were more focused on making speeches than on issues affecting people on the ground.Fadnavis was speaking to reporters in Nagpur on Sunday when he referred to Gandhi’s interaction with female students in Pune a day earlier.Rahul Gandhi had met girl students at his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ outreach programme in Pune on Saturday. During the interaction, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha spoke against what he described as a “Manusmriti mindset” and called on women to “smash patriarchy”.He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latter’s recent remarks that he was shocked to hear girls using abusive language during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
Fadnavis questions Gandhi’s stand
Fadnavis, however, said Rahul Gandhi should first respond to a question raised by BJP leader Chitra Wagh about his position on the Women’s Reservation Bill.The Maharashtra chief minister argued that Gandhi’s public statements on women’s empowerment were inconsistent with his alleged opposition to the legislation, which seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.
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“In the country’s constitutional process, the highest institution is the Parliament, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to ensure that 33 per cent of MPs are women,” Fadnavis said.“Coming to Pune to talk about women and then opposing the very bill that would give them real power, that’s Rahul Gandhi’s hypocritical stand,” Fadnavis said.“He does not want to give rights to women. I believe his words don’t match his actions,” the chief minister said.