Congress to present mini-skirt to Goa minister

The Congress will present a mini-skirt to Goa's Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar, who wants a ban on girls from wearing short skirts to nightclubs, as, he says, they are a threat to the "Goan culture".

The Congress would formally send Dhavalikar a mini-skirt to prove that popular party clothes have very little to do with disrespect to one's culture, party spokesperson Durgadas Kamat told reporters here Tuesday.

"Let him see for himself. We are sending him a brand new mini-skirt," Kamat said.

On Monday, Dhavalikar said: "Young girls wearing short skirts in nightclubs are a threat to the Goan culture."

"This habit of girls wearing short dresses everywhere does not fit the Goan culture. What will happen to it if this continues? We should not allow this. It should be stopped," said Dhavalikar, who belongs to Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Dhavalikar's comment comes on the heels of similar statement by Sri Rama Sene (SRS) chief Pramod Muthalik, who wants to start an SRS unit in Goa ostensibly to stop women from wearing short skirts and the "culture of drugs, sex and nudity", and to preserve the "Indian culture".

The comments have snowballed into a controversy on national media.

Dhavalikar also said he agreed with the arguments made by Muthalik, whose SRS came in limelight after its members attacked young men and women for drinking alcohol in a Mangalore pub.

"What he (Muthalik) is saying is not all that wrong," Dhavalikar said.

Incidentally, Dhavalikar's wife Jyoti is volunteer for Sanatan Sanstha, a right-wing organisation which was one of the hosts for the all-India Hindu convention in Goa last week, where Muthalik made the comments.