BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh minister Imarti Devi on Monday hit back at state Congress chief Kamal Nath for his "item" jibe, saying he did not know how to respect a Dalit woman and had lost his mind after losing the chief minister's post.
Campaigning on Sunday for byelection at Dabra town, from where Imarti Devi, a former Congress minister, is contesting on BJP ticket, Nath said his party's candidate was a simple person unlike his opponent who is an "item".
Speaking to reporters at Dabra, Devi said, "He (Nath) does not know how to speak decently. He belongs to Bengal and is not from Madhya Pradesh.
What does he know about respecting a Harijan (Dalit) woman? Nath went mad after resigning as chief minister and he can say anything."
The exit of Imarti Devi and 21 other Congress MLAs in March brought down Nath's government.
"In Madhya Pradesh, mothers and daughters are considered as Goddess Lakshmi and Nath is abusing them. I want Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to remove him from the party," she further said.
Nath would not be able to win a single seat for the Congress from among 28 seats where bypolls are scheduled for November 3, she claimed.
Meanwhile, a video purportedly showing Devi breaking down while talking about Nath's remarks to a news channel went viral of social media.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote to Sonia Gandhi, demanding she sack Nath from all party posts for insulting a Dalit woman.
"Your silence would compel me to think that you agree with Nath's statement," Chouhan said in the letter.
Chouhan, BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other party leaders also sat on a two-hour silent fast to protest Nath's statement.
State Congress spokesperson Durgesh Sharma said the BJP was trying to divert attention from real issues, and claimed that rape cases are on rise in MP.