Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha faced criticism online for his sexist remark, saying roads in his constituency would be made as smooth as Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif's cheeks. Gudha made the remark barely days after he was inducted into the Ashok Gehlot cabinet.
Gudha, MoS for Panchayati Raj, while addressing a public gathering in Jhunjhunu district, was asked about the poor roads in the area. "Roads like Katrina Kaif's cheeks' would be built in the constituency," he said, in a video that has gone viral.
Media reports suggest that the minister first referred to actor-turned-politician Hema Malini.
While his remark drew laughter from the crowd, netizens called the minister out for his sexist remarks.
While some asked Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi to react to the appropriate remarks by her party's minister, others said the problem is not with the minister, but with those who voted him to power.
This is not the first time a politician promised to make roads as smooth as the cheeks of an actor. In 2005, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had reportedly said roads in Bihar would be made as smooth as the cheeks of Hema Malini—a remark he denied making, years later.
Congress leader P.C. Sharma, in 2019, had said his party's government would make roads in Madhya Pradesh as smooth as the cheeks of Malini.