Ahead of the by-polls in Madhya Pradesh, former Chief Minister of the State Kamal Nath has sparked a new controversy after allegedly commenting on a female BJP candidate for the by-elections. Notably, the comment "item" was directed towards Imarti Devi, who will be contesting in the by-polls of Madhya Pradesh.
However, Kamal Nath's remark did not go well with both the state's ruling BJP and the woman candidate appealing to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for the expulsion of the former Chief Minister. On October 20, Rahul Gandhi became the first leader of the party to denounce senior colleague Kamal Nath over his "item" jibe.
While talking to the media amid the row, Rahul Gandhi said, "Kamal Nath ji is from my party but personally, I don't like the type of language that he used... I don't appreciate it, regardless of who he is. It is unfortunate".
Reportedly on Sunday, while campaigning in Dabra, Kamal Nath had targeted Imarti Devi and said the Congress candidate Suresh Raje was a "simple person" unlike his opponent who is an "item."
He further added, "Why should I take the name (of the opposing candidate)? You all know that person better than me. What an item." However, this jibe was applauded by the crowd present there and they chanted her name.
On the other hand, Kamal Nath reacted to Gandhi's remark and said, "It is Rahul Gandhi's opinion. I have already clarified the context in which I made that statement... Why should I apologise when I did not intend to insult anyone? If anyone felt insulted, I have already expressed regret."
What did Kamal Nath say earlier?
So far, Kamal Nath has not apologized for the remark but he tried to give an explanation to it and referred the item to an ordinary item. He further said he used this term as could not remember the opposition's candidate name.
"I did not say anything disrespectful. I respect women. If anyone thinks this is disrespectful, then I regret it," Kamal Nath told reporters on Monday night.
"I said something, it wasn't to insult anyone. I just didn't remember the (person's) name... this list (in his hand) says item no.1, item no.2. Is this an insult?" he said.
Imarti Devi had been a minister in Kamal Nath's 15-month government before it collapsed in March this year. She was also among the 22 MLAs who walked out of the party with Jyotiraditya Scindia, leading to the collapse.
Yesterday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, staged a silent protest and wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi about the issue, demanding action.
Imarti Devi had also appealed to the Congress chief, asking if she would have condoned the statement had it been made about her daughter. She said it is not her fault if she hails from a Dalit and a poor family.
"I want to appeal to Sonia Gandhi, who is also a mother, not to keep such people in her party. Will she tolerate it if anybody said something like this about her daughter? If such words are used for women, how can any woman move forward?" she had told news agency ANI.
NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma said, "This is disgraceful for him (Kamal Nath). It shows the character of the person saying it. Instead of saying sorry, he is giving a useless explanation. His party should take strict action against him."
"It's very demeaning & later, he said that he was reading from a list, I want to ask him, in the same list where was he standing? Which item he was?", said Rekha Sharma, Chairperson of National Commission for Women on former Madhya Pradesh CM & Congress leader Kamal Nath's "item" remark.