lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 30, 2020 18:36 IST

The BJP’s Jaya Prada on Monday made a sharp comeback after her former colleague and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan made a derogatory comment against her during an election rally.

The veteran SP leader had stoked a controversy with an “underwear” jibe against Jaya Prada, who is fighting the Lok Sabha election 2019 from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur parliamentary constituency against him.

“I brought her (Jaya Prada) to Rampur. You are a witness that I did not allow anyone to touch her body. It took you 17 years to identify her real face but I got to know in 17 days that she wears khaki underwear,” Khan had said while addressing a campaign rally in Rampur on Sunday.

The leader, known for his contoversial comments in the past, was referring to the colour associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological mentor.

Khan, however, asserted that he did not name anyone and said would withdraw his candidature from the ongoing election if proven guilty. The senior leader also accused the media of misinterpreting his comments.

Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada said Khan should not be allowed to contest the election.

Also read: Azam Khan’s offensive remark against Jaya Prada sparks outrage, FIR filed

“It isn’t new for me. You might remember that I was a candidate from his party in 2009 when no one supported me after he made comments against me. I’m a woman and I can’t even repeat what he said. I don’t know what I did to him that he is saying such things,” Jaya Prada was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“He shouldn’t be allowed to contest elections. Because if this man wins, what will happen to democracy? There’ll be no place for women in society. Where will we go? Should I die, then you’ll be satisfied? Do you think I’ll get scared and leave Rampur? But I won’t leave,” she said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded that the Election Commission should take cognisance of Khan’s “disgraceful and offensive” comments against Jayaprada, who was twice elected MP from Rampur on Samajwadi Party ticket.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj also sought SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s response on Khan’s comment against Jaya Prada.

Sushma Swaraj referred to the scene from the epic Mahabharata in which Draupadi is disrobed by Kaurava prince Duryodhana after the Pandavas lost a bet to their usurping cousins as she appealed to Mulayam to speak up.

“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.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken cognisance of Khan’s “offensive and derogatory” remarks and decided to send a show-cause notice to him.

“Absolutely disgraceful ... we will request election commission to bar him from contesting elections,” the commission’s chairperson Rekha Sharma tweeted.

Rampur goes to polls on April 23 along with 115 constituencies across 15 states in the third phase of the elections. Eight seats in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh went to polls in the first phase on April 11.

The final phase of voting will take place on May 19 and votes will be counted on May 23.

Also read | NCW issues notice to Azam Khan over his remarks against Jaya Prada