Rabri Reacts to ‘Veil’ Jibe, Asks ‘Is This PM Modi’s Empowerment?’

Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey and RJD leader Rabri Devi.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

BJP leader and Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey stirred controversy on Saturday, 13 April, after he made a sexist remark about RJD leader and Lalu Prasad’s wife, Rabri Devi, saying she should “remain in her ghunghat (veil),” reported ANI. Rabri Devi retaliated to his comment by saying, “Choubeji, why do you hate women in veil and why are you afraid of veiled women? Is it what women empowerment lessons of PM Narendra Modi teach?”

<i>“Rabri Devi ji ko kya kahiyega, woh toh bhabhi ji hain. Main kahunga ki aap ghungat mein hi rahiye toh zyada accha hai. </i>(What can I say to Rabri Devi, she’s like my sister-in-law. I’d say it’s best she stays under her veil.)<i>”</i>

Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey

Choubey made the remark while addressing a meeting in Sitamarhi parliamentary constituency, according to news agency IANS.

“Will He Ask All BJP Women Leaders to Stay At Home?”

Rabri Devi, who was quick to respond to Choubey’s statement, said his remarks are an insult to all women, considering the BJP’s slogan is ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’.

“I want to ask him, will he ask women leaders in the BJP to stay under the veil, and at home?” she said. She also said, “You have exposed your mindset towards women and it suggest what it means by the BJP-led Central government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.”

Further, Rabri said, the Union Minister should ensure that the BJP’s women leaders, like Smriti Irani, Sushma Swaraj and Nirmala Sitharaman, should be put under the veil.

Choubey’s comments have exposed the BJP’s mindset towards women, she also retorted.

(With inputs from IANS and ANI.)