'5 Daughters But No Son': MP Congress Leader's Remark Draws Flak

"Hoping for a son but, instead, they received five daughters," Patwari said in a deleted tweet about govt schemes.

File photo of Jitu Patwari, Congress Leader.

(Photo: Facebook/@jitupatwarionline)

A Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, Jitu Patwari, is facing criticism from various quarters after he compared Central government's schemes such as inflation, demonetization, unemployment, etc to daughters and went on to say, "..but son 'Vikas' (development) has not been born yet".

"Hoping for a son, but, instead they received five daughters," he said in a deleted tweet.

A screengrab of Jitu Patwari's Tweet which has been deleted now. (Photo: Twitter)

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Commission for Women (NCW) have sought an explanation from Patwari over his "misogynistic" and "derogatory" remarks, PTI reported.

"Sad that these people with this kind of mindset are calling themselves leaders. What are they teaching to their followers I wonder?" asked NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma.

In its letter to Patwari, NCPCR said, "As a political leader, it is unethical for you to violate the deepest constraints of morality to take any political digs at anyone else and to achieve greater goods and avoid disasters for the society at large."

"That audacious act of passing such a disparaging statement through your tweet not only belittles the very existence of the girl child but further takes us decades back, making all the incalculable struggle and sacrifice for achieving gender equality and rights of girl children in vain."

NCPCR in a letter to Jitu Patwari

Meanwhile, after facing flak on social media for his statement, Jitu, Congress MLA from the Rau constituency in Madhya Pradesh, has posted an apology.

"I regret if any sentiments have been hurt," he said in a tweet. In another, he added, "as far as daughters are concerned, they are divine".

(With inputs from PTI)