Rajasthan BJP chief apologises for his remarks comparing state budget with dark-skinned bride
Jaipur, Feb 24: Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia on Thursday apologized for his controversial remark comparing the state budget with a dark-complexioned bride after getting a makeover.
Talking to reporters after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented the Budget for the year 2022-23 on Wednesday, Poonia had said, "It seems to be a 'daubed up' budget. It seems like a dark-complexioned bride has been taken to a beauty parlour and presented after a good makeup.
The remarks drew strong criticism with the ruling Congress targeting him for using such a language against women.
"I was giving reaction to the budget during which I spontaneously spoke a few words. Usually, I do not use such words. If my words have hurt someone's sentiments, then I humbly apologize," he said in a video statement.
PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Chairperson of Rajasthan Commission for Women Rehana Rayaz, and others had condemned Poonia's statement.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
