Drawing a similarity between ‘Draupadi’ of Mahabharata and former Samajwadi leader Jaya Prada and comparing ‘Bhishma Pitahmah’ to Mulayam Singh Yadav, EAM Sushma Swaraj on Monday sought a response from the SP patriarch on the ‘Khaki underwear’ comment made by his party leader Azam Khan against veteran actor and Rampur BJP candidate Jaya Prada.

Referring to Draupadi’s cheer-haran (disrobing), a scene from epic Mahabharata, Sushma Swaraj urged Mulayam Singh not to remain silent on the outrageous comment made by his party leader Azam Khan.

‘Mulayam Bhai – You are the father figure of Samajwadi Party. In front of you, Draupadi is being disrobed in Rampur. Do not make the mistake of being silent like Bhishma. @yadavakhilesh Smt. Jaya Bhaduri, Mrs Dimple Yadav,’ she tweeted in Hindi.

मुलायम भाई – आप पितामह हैं समाजवादी पार्टी के. आपके सामने रामपुर में द्रौपदी का चीर हरण हो रहा हैं. आप भीष्म की तरह मौन साधने की गलती मत करिये. @yadavakhilesh Smt.Jaya Bhaduri, Mrs.Dimple Yadav.pic.twitter.com/FNO5fM4Hkc — Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 15, 2019

Azam Khan, known for his sexist and obnoxious comments, while addressing a poll campaign rally in his parliamentary constituency Rampur on Sunday, made an outrageous comment on Jaya Prada saying, “Uski asliayat samajhne me apko 17 baras lagey. Main 17 din me pehchan gaya ke inke niche ka jo underwear hai woh khaki rang ka hai (It took 17 years for you to recognise her reality. But it took me only 17 days to recognise that the colour of her underwear is Khaki)”. Khan said this trying to suggest that Prada had links with the RSS from the beginning and the allegations against him were an RSS conspiracy.

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Continuing his attack on Prada in the presence of SP President and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, he said that he had introduced Prada to Rampur holding her fingers and made sure that no one even got closer to her or said something bad about her. “Kisi ka Kandha nahi lagne diya uske shareer se, chhoone nahi diya, gandi baat nhi karne di”, he said.

In the latest development, the police have lodged an FIR against Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan for his objectionable ‘khaki underwear’ comment against actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also condemned the incident calling it unfortunate and said that the remark speaks volume about the culture and mindset of SP members.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Azam Khan’s remark: This shows the thinking & culture of Samajwadi Party. The silence of SP chief & his ally Mayawati, who is also a woman, is surprising. This is very unfortunate…Azam Khan’s statement is extremely disrespectful, shows his cheap mindset pic.twitter.com/corLRj8XfP — ANI (@ANI) April 15, 2019

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken cognisance of the sexist remark made by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and sent a notice to him.

NCW chairperson said that Khan always says dirty things about women and in this election, this is his second statement he has given against women politician. The NCW has taken a suo moto against him and has even written to the Election Commission to take strict action against him.

Jaya Prada, the apparent target of an outrageous comment by former colleague-turned-rival candidate Azam Khan of the Samajwadi Party, said today that he should not be allowed to contest elections for the sake of democracy and for women. “Should I die? Then will you be satisfied,” the former actor and BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur said today.

Meanwhile, asserting that he did not take any names the SP leader said he would withdraw his candidature from the ongoing polls if proved guilty.

Giving an explanation for his audacious remark Khan said, “I have said that people took time to know real face in reference to a man once said that he brought 150 rifles with him and if he sees Azam, he would have shot him dead. My leaders also did a mistake. Now, it has been revealed that he has an RSS pant on his body. Short is worn by men,” further he added, “I was a nine-time MLA from Rampur and been a minister. I know what to say. If anyone proves that I have named anyone and insulted anyone by name. If it is proved, I will step back from the elections.”

Khan has blamed the media of misrepresenting and distorting his comment.

Prior to this controversial comment, Azam Khan at the public rally outrightly denied the allegations levelled by Jaya Prada against him a day before. He even swore on his late mother saying that none of the allegations was true. But the next moment he proved himself wrong by making a highly derogatory remark against Prada.

Prada had called the sitting MLA of SP from Rampur, Azam Khan as the reason behind her leaving Rampur. The veteran actor-turned-politician said that she had even complained to Mulayam Singh that her morphed pictures were being circulated in Rampur and had asked for his help but no leader came out in her support to save her. And therefore she had to leave Rampur.

Jaya Prada has been on the receiving end of sexist and misogynist remarks since she joined the BJP. Last month, Azam Khan‘s close aide named Firoz Khan had used similar language for Prada saying that the residents of Rampur would remain entertained and their evenings would be ‘colourful’ because Jyada Prada would be visiting the district frequently for campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.

Jaya Prada who was earlier in SP had alleged that Azam Khan had attempted an acid attack on her and she was not certain whether she would be alive the next day.