Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh on Monday demanded scrapping of the tradition of wearing veil (‘purdah’) by women.

According to him it was a deterrent to their development and growth.

The ‘purdah’ practice is prevalent among Hindus as well as Muslims in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh.

“This practice did not exist in the distant past. Did Sita or Draupadi ever don a veil? Some circumstances cropped up later because of which women had to use veil,” Mr. Singh said.

He was addressing the national convention of his party’s women wing.

“We have to work to remove inferiority complex in women.

“The ‘purdah’ is a wrong tradition and should be eradicated. It is time for you to decide about this veil system... Such evil traditions should end.”

Interestingly, Mr. Singh blamed the free laptop scheme for students started by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for the party’s loss in the Lok Sabha polls.

“We distributed laptops and people heard the campaign speeches of [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi on these very devices. They were impressed, and we lost the polls,” he added.