A Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh raked up a controversy after he publicly threatened a woman officer on Sunday in Ratlam district, reported NDTV.
In a video clip of the incident, which has been shared widely on social media, Congress MLA Harsh Vijay Gehlot can be seen arguing over a memorandum, repeatedly saying that he is a legislator, and then talking aggressively with Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kamini Thakur.
“You are a woman,” Gehlot can be heard saying. “Had you been a man I would have held you by the collar and then handed the memo to you.”
The incident took place in Ratlam district’s Sailana town near the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border. The Congress had taken out a tractor rally in support of the farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws.
Following the rally, the Congress MLA, along with a crowd, reached the sub-divisional magistrate’s office to submit the memorandum. When Thakur came out of the office, the two argued and Gehlot threatened her.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress unit has running into controversies recently. Congress MLA Sajjan Singh Verma had on January 13 made regressive remarks against women when he raised questions on why the minimum age of girls to marry should be increased.
“According to doctors, a girl is ready for reproduction by the age of 15,” he said at a press conference in Bhopal. “...On what basis does girls’ marriage age should be increased to 21 from 18?” Verma’s comments came in response to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s proposal to start a national debate on the legal age of marriage.
The National Commission For Protection of Child Rights had issued a notice to the former Madhya Pradesh minister. The Bharatiya Janata Party had demanded an apology from Verma. The Congress, however, had defended Verma and accused the BJP of making “an issue out of nothing”.
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