New Delhi: As the Modi government stepped up its women empowerment campaigns — “beti bachao, beti padhao” and “let’s empower women” among others, the Congress unleashed a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter – “#Misogynistic Modi” and “How BJP disrespects women.” It may be recalled that during the election campaigns in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a direct attack on the Congress calling the party “anti women” for blocking the triple talaq Bill. In Congress’ social media campaign, the video opens with the words — “Misogynistic Modi” or “M-for misogyny”. It starts with the Prime Minister addressing a group of housewives and saying: “Patidev jab chai mangte honge to turant chai de deti hogi toh ghar mein jhagde bhi kam hote honge” (since you all serve tea the moment your husbands ask for it, there are probably fewer arguments at home”). The video then cuts to the Prime Minister comparing Congress Rajya Sabha MP Renuka Chowdhury’s loud laughter “to something he last heard on TV while watching Ramayana” in an obvious, but veiled reference to demoness Surpanakha. The Congress video then takes one back to a 2012 public rally at Himachal Pradesh where Mr Modi while referring to Sunanda Pushkar asks the crowd — “Wah kya girlfriend hai. Apne kabhi dekha hai 50 crore ki girlfriend?” (What a girlfriend. Have you ever seen a 50-crore-girl friend?), he told the crowd referring to Tharoor who was inducted into the government as minister of state for HRD. Mr Modi, who was then the Gujarat chief minister was referring to the allegations of Shashi Tharoor actively negotiating the “sweat equity” for Pushkar in the Kochi IPL team in 2010. Then, of course, the video shows clips of English dailies where he allegedly described the then Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi as a “jersey cow” and her son, Rahul Gandhi as her “hybrid bachhra.”
Alleging that “Misogyny runs deep in the BJP & RSS”, the Facebook post goes on to show finance minister Arun Jaitley, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and others making sexists remarks. The RSS chief is shown saying — “Marriage is a contract. A woman’s role is to take care of the house. A man’s role is to take care of her needs.” The video ends with the question — “How can women of India hope for equality under the leadership of misogynists?”
Incidentally, this tradition of allegation and counter-allegation of which party is “anti-women” is not new. A few months ago, Rahul Gandhi had said, “You know who the parent organisation of the BJP is? It is the RSS. It is their idea that as long as women remain silent, they are good. The moment a woman opens her mouth, they want to shut her up.” To this Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani had promptly lashed out at him. Ms Swaraj had said, “Rivals call BJP anti-women party but it gave four women CMs and four women governors (sic). There are six women Cabinet ministers.” Ms Irani had said that the women of Gujarat and the nation would not forgive the Congress leader’s “perverse mentality”. She had said, “His (Rahul’s) mentality is such. The RSS works for the development of the nation by keeping everyone together. Is this our culture…Should we support a person who insults women?”
