BHUBANESWAR: Even as the statement of Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi asking girls not to marry a man who does not know cooking has been supported by Opposition Congress and BJP, the ruling BJD is yet to officially clarify on the issue after the comment of one of its spokesperson kicked off a controversy. Going against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s mission of women empowerment, one of BJD’s spokesperson had questioned the Police Commissioner’s statement on Friday.
BJP MP from Bhubaneswar, Aparajita Sarangi stressed on gender equality. She said this is not a question which of the gender is ahead. “There should be equality,” she said. President of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik too supported the proposal that man should also learn cooking. “I fully support what the Police Commissioner has said. What is wrong in saying that we should share all work with women,” Niranjan said.
General secretary of State BJP, Prithviraj Harichandan described BJD statement as unfortunate and said it points towards the ruling party’s excessive interference in governance. “The BJD should have welcomed and encouraged such an innovative step taken by the Police Commissioner. Instead, the ruling party has ridiculed him to show him in a bad light,” he said.
Extending support to the Police Commissioner, former BJD MLA Sipra Mallik has said women always expect such cooperation from men. Without making any comment on the controversy created around the statement of the Police Commissioner, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das said he knows how to prepare dalma and omelette. His party colleague and Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya said he only knows how to prepare tea.
However, senior Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray has supported the BJD spokesperson’s comment. “Men should work in the field for income and women should manage the household,” he said and added that to become an ideal mother and wife, women should cook.