Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lashed out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the latter’s “derogatory” remarks made in the state assembly, and questioned why leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc remained silent over the issue.
“Yesterday, one of the INDI alliance's big leaders who is holding the bloc's flag high and playing different games to unseat the present government (at the Center) used a language, which no one can even think of in a state assembly in the presence of mothers and sisters... he didn't even feel ashamed of it,” Modi said, without taking Nitish’s name.
The prime minister was addressing an election rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna.
“Those having such a vision, how can they keep your honour and respect? How low will they stoop? What an unfortunate situation for the country,” Modi said and went on to promise that he would do whatever he can to ensure the honour and respect for women.
The Bihar chief minister, while speaking about the role of women’s education in population control, went on to make a bizarre claim that an educated woman can restrain her husband during sexual intercourse.
"The husband's acts led to more births. However, with education, a woman knows how to restrain him... this is the reason the numbers (of births) are coming down," Nitish allegedly said while noting that the state’s fertility rate had come down from from 4.3 to 2.9 and would soon reach 2.0.
The BJP condemned the chief minister’s remarks and called him the most “vulgar leader” in politics.
“There should be a ban on his double-meaning remarks. It seems he has been influenced by the company he keeps," party state unit said in a post on X.
The National Commission for Women (NCW), too, strongly criticised Kumar's statements, labelling them as regressive and profoundly insensitive to women's rights and choices.
As the controversy raged, the chief minister tendered an apology on Wednesday.
“I apologise and I take back my words…,” he said.