Incident involving Siddaramaiah shows how much Cong respects women: BJP

Attacking the Congress over its leader Siddaramaiah alleged misbehavior with a woman, the BJP Monday said it shows how much the opposition party respects women and demanded that Rahul Gandhi take action against the former Karnataka chief minister.

A purported video of the incident showed Siddaramaiah shouting at the woman and snatching the microphone from her during a public meet organised by his son Yatheendra. The woman had allegedly questioned Yatheendra's non-availability in his constituency of Varuna.

Addressing a press conference at the party office here, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi should take action against Siddaramaiah.

"Rahul Gandhi should tell what action will he take against Siddaramiah, who has insulted a woman. This incident shows how much Congress respects women. Only one woman and one family matters to them," he said.

The incident is as a test for Karanataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy who is leading a coalition government with the Congress in the state, Javadekar said.

"Today, we saw how Siddaramaiah behaved with a woman. The way he behaved is shameful... is violation of modesty and is condemnable. I hope Kumarswamy has seen this and in Karnataka also this is a cognisable violence," he said.

Responding to a question on the Congress inviting former JNU student union leaders Kanhaiya Kumar and Shehla Rashid to an event, Javadekar said the Opposition party had become so narrow-minded that even the SP and the BSP were not ready to align with it.

The human resource development minister, citing surveys conducted by global organisations, said that there will be no person below the poverty line in the country by 2030.

According to a Brookings report, 44 people per minute are coming out of poverty in India, he said.

Citing another report by the World Data Lab, which monitors global poverty, Javadekar said extreme poverty in India is reducing at a very fast pace.

In 2012, 14 per cent people in rural areas were below extreme poverty. It has come down to 4 per cent. Similarly, 9.5 per cent people in urban areas were extremely poor. The number has declined to 3.5 per cent, the minister said, adding that all reports have suggested that the Modi government's schemes have succeeded in eradicating poverty.