BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri has raised another controversy with his comments, this time over the name of Delhi Chief Minister Atishi.
Mr Bidhuri is contesting the Delhi assembly election from Kalkaji constituency, which is at present represented by Atishi from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
At a rally in Delhi’s Rohini on Sunday, Mr Bidhuri raised the matter of Atishi’s surname change – a matter that was also controversial in the past, especially during the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election when Atishi contested from East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.
Atishi lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election to the BJP’s Gautam Gambhir by a margin of over 4.7 lakh votes.
Mr Bidhuri had just expressed regret over another “sexist” comment on Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, when the Atishi row hit him this evening.
In an undated video, the BJP leader was heard saying the party would make all the roads in south Delhi’s Kalkaji like the “cheeks of Priyanka Gandhi” if it came to power.
Mr Bidhuri later told news agency ANI his comments on Priyanka Gandhi were made in the context of remarks made by former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, who, years ago, reportedly said he would make the roads of Bihar “as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks”.
Though Lalu Yadav’s one-liner was repeatedly referenced over the years, in 2010 he denied ever having said it and accused his rivals of attributing the comment falsely to him.
Mr Bidhuri, however, offered to take back his words.
“Such statements have been made before. I have said that in the context of what Lalu Yadav had said. The Congress remained silent on that even when he [Lalu Yadav] was a minister in their government. If anyone is hurt by my remark, I express regret over it and I take my words back,” the BJP leader said.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal criticised Mr Bidhuri, saying the BJP and its leaders have crossed all the limits of “shamelessness.”
“BJP leaders are hurling abuses at Delhi chief minister Atishi ji. Delhi people will not tolerate the insult of a woman chief minister. All the women in Delhi will take revenge for this,” Mr Kejriwal said in a post on X.
BJP नेता रमेश बिधूड़ी ने जिस तरह की भाषा का इस्तेमाल महिला मुख्यमंत्री आतिशी जी को लेकर किया है, वह उनकी मानसिकता को दिखाता है।
ये लोग महिला मुख्यमंत्री को लेकर ऐसी बातें कर सकते हैं तो अगर गलती से भी ये जीत गए तो आम महिलाओं के प्रति इनका क्या व्यवहार होगा।
-@PKakkar_ pic.twitter.com/r3ZNTpOE83
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) January 5, 2025
The AAP in a statement said Mr Bidhuri’s “abusive remarks” against a female chief minister exposed the BJP’s “anti-women” mindset.
“If he behaves this way now, imagine the treatment ordinary women would face if he mistakenly becomes an MLA,” the AAP said in a statement.
The assembly elections in Delhi are likely to be held in February. The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 successive years, did not win a single seat in the last two assembly elections in the national capital. The AAP won 62 out of the 70 seats in the 2020 assembly elections and the BJP got eight.