3 min readMay 3, 2026 05:01 PM IST
A remark made by BJP’s Gujarat unit president Jagdish Vishwakarma at a party victory celebration in Banaskantha district on Thursday regarding Congress’s lone MP from the district Geniben Thakor has evoked strong reactions from opposition leaders, who have called it “indecent” and demanded action against him.
Addressing party workers at ‘Banas Vijayotsav’ on April 30, two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won most of the local self-government bodies in the elections held on April 26, Vishwakarma commented on how “mothers and sisters” and BJP workers had “snatched the seats from your (Geniben’s) saree pallu (tamari saadi na pallav mathi bandheli seato aanchki lidhu chhe)”.
“We respect you ben, you are sister to all of us, but the way you insulted the sisters of Gujarat, of Banaskantha, and the 70 crore women of the country [by not supporting] the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam (the 106th Constitutional amendment to bring 33% reservation for women in the higher elected bodies), the sisters of Banaskantha will never forget… a fitting reply was given by our mothers and sisters by taking away the seats from the pallu of your saree,” Vishwakarma had said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi took to X on Saturday and responded in Hindi: “The mask of ‘Nari Vandana’ has come off. This is not just shameful—it’s the true face of the BJP’s Manuvadi, anti-woman ideology.”
“Women who challenge power are intolerable to them—their distorted mindset surfaces instantly. And as for the Prime Minister, he’s already fled parliament in a panic from the questions by Congress’s women MPs. Modi ji himself has said, “A woman forgets everything, but never her insult”, yet the BJP has forgotten this. The anti-woman BJP should remember: the women of Gujarat and across India will give a fitting slap in response to every insult.”
Congress working president Jignesh Mevani, the MLA from Vadgam in Banaskantha district, demanded police action against Vishwakarma.
“Such indecent words… do not sound good coming from any political leader’s mouth. This is not just an insult to all the mothers, sisters and daughters… I want to tell the entire Thakor samaj that you should give a fitting reply to this dirty remark made about our sister, Banas’s sister. I demand that the state government and police set an example by lodging a case against Jagdish Vishwakarma.”
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Thakor, in a social media post, demanded an apology from Vishwakarma and challenged him to “contest and win from Banaskantha in the 2027 assembly elections”. “I will request my party high command to give me a ticket to contest from wherever Vishwakarma contests from…” said Thakor.
The Congress MP could not be reached for a comment. Also, Gujarat BJP leaders didn’t immediately respond to queries.
