After RJD's Manoj Jha's remarks, another party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui stoked a controversy saying women "wearing lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles" would enter Parliament in the name of women's reservation bill.
Siddiqui made the remarks while speaking an event in Bihar's Muzaffarpur. He face heavy backlash over his remarks.
BJP MP Sunita Duggal criticised Siddiqui’s for his remarks and pointed out the “narrow mindset” of the party. “This shows their narrow mindset... Women are making a mark in every area... Giving such statements represents their rude mentality...They want women to do only household work and not contribute to the outside world,” Duggal was quoted by ANI.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that RJP had revealed their stance in Parliament by supporting the bill. “Not only RJD but several other parties had said that reservations for OBC women should be given in this... So what he (Abdul Bari Siddiqui) says now is not relevant... Every woman who votes has a right, and if they have the vision to participate in Parliament, then it is their right...This right was denied to them for many years, and the Women's Reservation Bill has provided it,” said Chaturvedi.
Later, Siddiqui had clarified saying that he meant to explain it in the language of the rural women. “It was an attempt to explain the implications of the women’s reservation law to the rural women present at the event,” he said.
During his speech, he also said that those from the “backward communities should get an opportunity to be in the Parliament”.
“My intention was not to hurt anyone...RJD had been in support of the bill since the beginning,” Siddiqui was quoted by ANI.
President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the women’s reservation bill that seeks 33 per cent reservation to women in the Parliament on Friday.
Earlier, RJD's Jha had recited a verse composed by dalit writer Om Prakash Valmiki in Rajya Sabha titled "Thakur Ka Kuan" (the Thakur's well) and said "We all have a Thakur within ourselves whom we must get rid of." He faced backlash over his remarks where many Thakurs alleged that he targeted the community being a Brahmin.
