New Delhi, August 26 (HS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari over his controversial remarks on women, calling them an “insult” and evidence of the Congress’s “deep-rooted anti-women mindset.”

Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson and MP Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi said Patwari’s statement — that “most women in Madhya Pradesh consume alcohol the most in the country” — was not only derogatory to the dignity of women in the state but also reflected a “disgraceful and regressive attitude within the Congress.”

“From denying respect to women leaders inside their own party to issuing such disparaging comments in public, the Congress has repeatedly shown its anti-women face,” Trivedi alleged. He recalled that several women leaders had quit the Congress in the past citing humiliation within the party.

Defending Madhya Pradesh’s record, Trivedi underlined that under BJP governments, the state had pioneered women’s welfare initiatives — from 35 percent reservation for women in local bodies to the ‘Ladli Laxmi Yojana’. “Madhya Pradesh is the land of Devi Ahilya Bai. To tarnish the image of its women with such remarks is unacceptable,” he said.

He also dismissed Patwari’s claims by citing reports that place rural Telangana among the regions with the highest alcohol consumption.

Reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to women’s dignity, Trivedi pointed to initiatives such as ‘Operation Sindoor’, the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill alongside the inauguration of the new Parliament building, and other pro-women policies.

The controversy erupted after Patwari remarked, “Across the country, it is the women of Madhya Pradesh who consume the most alcohol. Votes were taken in the name of Ladli Behna, and today those very women are drinking the most.”

His statement has sparked a political storm in the state, with the BJP demanding an apology and accusing the Congress of humiliating women for political gain.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar