Indore, Sep 22 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya’s comment about a woman councillor’s weight gain sparked a political row, prompting the BJP leader to express regret on Tuesday and accuse the Congress of misrepresenting his statement.
Vijayvargiya said the woman councillor was “like a daughter” to him and that he had known her since her childhood.
Accusing the opposition of twisting his intent, Vijayvargiya said that the woman councillor and he himself were saddened by the way Congress leaders presented his statement and the subsequent media coverage of it.
“I express regret in this regard,” the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister said.
Talking about the episode in a social media video, Vijayvargiya is heard saying, “A lot of development work has been done in the ward of a very active councillor in my assembly constituency. Whatever I said about her in my speech at that time has been misrepresented by the Congress people.”
He said the woman councillor was like his daughter, and that he had himself fed her when she was a child.
Addressing a public event in Indore on Sunday, Vijayvargiya praised the councillor’s hard work in developing a civic ward and said she has carried out numerous public welfare projects in her area.
During the speech, Vijayvargiya, alluding to the female councillor’s weight gain, jokingly remarked that her width had increased slightly. A video of the speech circulated on social media, showing leaders on the stage laughing after the cabinet minister’s comment.
Opposition Congress linked his comment to body shaming, and questioned the ruling BJP’s claims of respecting women.
A Congress leader hit out at the BJP, saying that while the ruling party talks big about women’s respect, its senior leader like Vijayvargiya openly mocks the physical appearance of a female councillor, which shows its “true character”.
(PTI News)
