NEW DELHI: The chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW), Rekha Sharma, strongly criticised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday for his remarks in the state assembly regarding the role of women in population growth, likening it to dialogue from a “C-grade movie.”
Sharma called for the Bihar assembly speaker to take action against Kumar for his comments on the importance of women’s education in controlling the population and demanded an apology from him. During his speech, the Bihar CM emphasized the significance of educating women to manage population growth and presented a vivid description of how an educated woman can “restrain” her husband during sexual intercourse. Following a backlash, Kumar issued an apology, acknowledging that his words may have hurt someone.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without directly namingKumar, noted that no politician from the INDIA alliance had objected to the Bihar CM’s remarks. During a political rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna, he criticised Kumar’s actions and questioned if they could stoop so low. In a letter addressed to Bihar speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary, the NCW chief strongly condemned the use of derogatory and vulgar statements by individuals in responsible positions, demonstrating extreme disrespect towards women.
A war of words also erupted between Sharma and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi over Kumar’s remarks. Sharma demanded an immediate and clear apology from Kumar on microblogging site X, tagging other women leaders including Chaturvedi.
Chaturvedi responded by stating that selective silence and action are detrimental to the non-partisan nature of Sharma’s position. “My dear biased, politically motivated Madam, I do unequivocally condemn any language used for women which is derogatory-irrespective of my politics... I am also certain that the CM will revisit his usage of words. Unfortunately as far as I recall, whenever we expected you to stand up for women, you chose selective silence and selective action — doing a huge disservice to your chair as NCW,” said Chaturvedi.
Sharma fired back, reminding Chaturvedi of her own inaction in the past when presented with evidence against a leader from her party. Chaturvedi urged Sharma to prioritise her duty to the chair and take action rather than engaging in a personal feud.