New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri made a sexist remark about Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Wednesday, declaring the AAP leader is “roaming the city like a deer”. At a rally in the national capital, which will hold an Assembly election in three weeks, he said, “Dilli ki janta nark bhog rahi hai galiyon mei… galiyon ki halat dekhiye… Kabhi Atishi nahi gayi milne logon se. Lekin ab chunaav ke samay jaise jungle mei hirni bhaagti hai vaise Atishi Dilli ki sadko pr hirni jaise ghoom rahi hain.”
Translated, the remark means, “The people of Delhi are suffering in the streets of Delhi… Look at the condition of the streets… In the last four years, Atishi never came to meet the people and now when the elections are here, she is roaming on the streets of Delhi like a deer runs in the forest.”
The AAP has yet to respond to Bidhuri’s crude jab.
Atishi – who succeeded party boss Arvind Kejriwal to the top post after he was forced to stand down last year over involvement in an alleged corruption scam – will contest the February 5 poll from Delhi’s Kalkaji.
The BJP has named Bidhuri – no stranger to incendiary remarks against political rivals, including communal slurs against then BSP leader Danish Ali – as its candidate for that seat.
This isn’t the first time Bidhuri has made inappropriate and unseemly remarks against female colleagues. He earlier declared that were he to be elected as a Delhi MLA, he would make roads which are like Congress leader “Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks”. He later offered an apology.
READ | Priyanka Responds To BJP Leader’s Controversial “Cheeks” Remark
He earlier also launched another personal attack, targeting Atishi’s father. A heart-broken AAP leader broke down, telling reporters, “For elections, he (Bidhuri) stooped so low… he abused an old man…”
VIDEO | Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Breaks Down Over BJP Leader’s Jibe
There has also been talk, which Bidhuri has squashed, of the BJP leader being a chief ministerial candidate. In a statement issued on Sunday he said, “The party has given me a lot, I have no claim to any post. I am as dedicated to the people as I am to the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is completely baseless to talk about me for the post of chief minister. I will continue as your servant.”
READ | “Not Contender”: BJP Leader On AAP’s ‘Chief Minister Face’ Claim
The Congress, meanwhile, has named a former AAP leader, Alka Lamba, as its candidate.
INDIA bloc allies on paper, the AAP and the Congress have fallen foul of each other since the Haryana election in October last year, for which the two failed to agree a seat sharing deal.
READ | “When INDIA Bloc Was Formed…”: Allies’ Reminder To Congress Before Delhi Poll
The Congress was then routed by the BJP. The Haryana disaster drew jabs from the SP and Trinamool, both of whom made pointed reference to their own failed seat-share talks with the bloc head.
And, fuelled by similar spats – including for Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats in the April-June federal election – the Congress and the AAP confirmed in December they will be rivals this time around.
