Katiyar has exposed BJP's mindest: Priyanka

Congress President Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday slammed BJP MP Vinay Katiyar over his alleged sexist remarks against her, saying it "exposed the mindset" of his party.

The Congress party has demanded that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah apologize for the BJP "insulting India's womanhood".

Katiyar has courted controversy saying there were "prettier star campaigners" in his party than Priyanka who is the star campaigner for the Congress in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

Priyanka said the remarks of the BJP leader were making her "laugh even more".

"He is right...they do," she said about women BJP leaders in a WhatsApp reply to Delhi-based journalist Tavleen Singh Aroor.

"And if that is all he sees in my colleagues who are such strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more. Because he exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India."

An image of Priyanka Vadra's WhatsApp was later posted on Twitter by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala who praised Priyanka Gandhi for giving "a befitting reply to such misogynist BJP leaders".

Reacting to Katiyar's remark. Surjewala said: "Disparaging and atrocious remarks of Vinay Katiyar on Priyankaji reflect the petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women."

"To adjudge India's women by physical features and not by their capacity, capability, strength and sacrifice proves the lowly BJP mentality," he said on his Twitter account.

Surjewala further said: "BJP has insulted India's womanhood. Such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJP's mentality. Time for Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah to apologize."

"BJP-RSS suffer from a deep rooted and retrograde anti-women mindset. There is a long list led by Mohan Bhagwat (RSS chief) and (BJP leader) Kailash Vijayvargiya," he added.

--IANS

sid/rn