Women lawmakers slam Naresh Agrawal over sexist comment

New Delhi: The women lawmakers of the country have lashed out at the newly inducted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Naresh Agrawal, for his alleged sexist comment on actor and Rajya Sabha election candidate, Jaya Bachchan.

During his initiation ceremony at the BJP headquarters, Agrawal had said that his status in the Samajwadi Party (SP) "was reduced to that of a film actor."

"For somebody who used to dance and act in films, the ticket was not given to me, which I did not find right," he had said.

Calling out Agrawal for denigrating a woman, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, "It is sad. If elected representatives will talk like that, then what is the difference between them and roadside Romeos? Even men dance and sing in movies, then why are such things said only for women?"

Meanwhile, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury raised questions on the BJP for inducting Agrawal into the party.

"Jaya ji is an achiever. Even before marrying Amitabh Bachchan, she was famous as Jaya Bhaduri. Saari party ghumte hain (Naresh Agrawal), fayda dekh ke dusri party mein kood padte hain, ye mard ki pehchan hai? (He moves in all parties, he jumps into whichever party he sees personal gain in, is it the identity of a man?) What he thinks doesn't matter, question is what is BJP doing?" she told ANI.

The comment did not go down well with External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj, either. On Monday, she tweeted, "Shri Naresh Agarwal has joined Bhartiya Janata Party. He is welcome. However, his comments regarding Jaya Bachhan ji are improper and unacceptable."

Agrawal represents Hardoi constituency in the Rajya Sabha, and at the expiration of his term, the SP decided to field Bachchan from that seat.