New Delhi:

The elections are open season on female politicians, and a familiar pan-party, pan-national sexist subtext is playing out again in the 2024 elections, with the BJP’s star candidates Hema Malini and Kangana · Kangana Ranaut and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee emerged as early targets.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala appeared in court on Thursday for making derogatory remarks about Ms Malini, sparking the anger of her party and its leaders and prompting the National Commission for Women Raise your case against him to the Electoral Commission.

Remarks at a rally in Haryana state late last month sparked a massive political row, with the BJP claiming the opposition party had hit a new low with “vile, sexist” rhetoric, with the Congress leader saying he also In the same video, Malini said she was respected because she was married to “Dharmendra ji, our bahu”.

Regardless of the apology, the two-time BJP MP from Mathura has been at the center of a controversy over her speeches in which she almost casually referred to and circumscribed her status as a star, wife and daughter-in-law. Many years ago, when RJD chief Lalu Yadav claimed that he would make Bihar’s roads as smooth as her cheeks, she became the subject of another objectionable comparison.

“This is not only between rivals but even within political parties, all female politicians face sexism from their male colleagues. You can ask any female politician and she will tell you the same,” Feminist Campaign Ranjana Kumari told Press Trust of India.

Susila Ramaswamy, professor of political science at the College of Jesus and Mary, University of Delhi, added that gender equality and diversity are crucial to modern society but are “still nascent and uneven in India”.

“Female representation is far lower than in many other democracies. The few women come from privileged, well-connected families,” she added.

Before Surjewala, party leaders Supriya Shrinate and HS Ahir found themselves in trouble for postings about Ms Ranaut and her constituency Mandi on their social media accounts. Shrinate deleted the offensive comments, saying she did not post them. Moreover, Congress Karnataka MP Shamanur Shivashankarappa said of the BJP’s Gayathri Siddeshwara that she is only “fit for Cook”. The BJP’s Dilip Ghosh apologized for comments about Banerjee’s origins.

The Election Commission issued notices to Ms. Shrinate and Ms. Ghosh, but the course of this election season appears to be the same as in previous ones. Unfortunately, prominent figures in Indian politics, including Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Smriti Irish, Jaya Prada Prada and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have both been targets of sexism in politics.

The recent incident involving the ‘Queen’ actor recalls Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s rude comments in 2019 against the BJP leader and his former colleague Jaya Prada.

In August 2019, at an election rally in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, Mr Khan said: “I brought her (Jaya Prada) to Rampur. You are my witness that I did not allow anyone to touch her body .It took you 17 years to identify her.” real face, but I didn’t know she was wearing khaki underwear until 17 days later. ”

Discussing misogyny in Indian politics, women’s rights activist Ranjana Kumari said that “degrading women by commenting on their bodies” is a common mentality.

She added that while female perpetrators in such cases often eventually apologize, men rarely do so.

Similar incidents occurred during the 2019 election, when political heavyweights made offensive comments about female rivals that could only be considered misogynistic in the contemporary political narrative. The then Union Minister Ashwini Choubey advised former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi to leave her ‘ghooghat’ (veil) behind. Another BJP leader Vinay Katyal reportedly asked Congress leader Sonia Gandhi if she can prove to Rahul Gandhi that his father is Rajiv Gandhi.

Katiyar also took aim at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying “there are already more beautiful star campaigners in politics”.

That same year, actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar was the target of sexist remarks, with the BJP’s Gopal Shetty saying she was ticketed because of her looks .

BSP supremo Mayawati was also the target of virulent remarks in 2016 about BJP Dayashankar Singh being “worse than a prostitute”, claiming that the Dalit leader was selling tickets to in exchange for money.

The comments by the then Uttar Pradesh vice-president of the BJP led to his party colleagues Keshav Prasad Moriya and Arun Jaitley to apologize to Mayawati in Parliament.

In 2022, police registered a case against Congress leader Ajay Rai for making sexist remarks against Union Minister Smriti Israeli.

Ms Ramaswamy said the rampant use of offensive language and treatment of female politicians stemmed from “the larger patriarchal order that creates an unequal sphere for women in the private and public spheres”.

“This is due to lack of proper education, upbringing and awareness, leading to a distorted perception of male superiority that is not reflected in the real world. We have liberal political structures, but the corresponding development of a liberal society is It is an ongoing process and it takes time,” Ms. Ramaswamy told PTI.

This is not the first time that the BJP’s Ghosh has targeted the West Bengal chief minister and Banerjee.

Ms Banerjee suffered an injury on her foot and was seen wearing a cast while campaigning for the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal.

Addressing a poll rally in Purulia, Mr Ghosh said: “We have never seen anyone taking off a cast. What witchcraft is this? She was wearing a sari and one leg was exposed. I have never seen that Someone is wearing a sari like this. “Wear a bermuda instead so everyone can see clearly”.

While it is not uncommon for political opponents to make sexist and derogatory remarks, especially when the opponent is a woman, Congress leader Digvijay Singh has also joined the ranks of such politicians, saying that a Congressman MP comments.

In 2013, Mr Singh sparked controversy when he described the then Mandsaur MP Meenakshi Natarajan as “sau taka tunch maal” (100 per cent pure material or completely flawless). Partisan criticism.

There are many and frequent instances where some female politicians are subjected to sexist comments from colleagues, rivals and constituents, and their achievements are belittled as being related to their gender. As many people can attest, the male gaze is difficult to escape. PTI Ma Minmin

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)