Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Election Commission on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Congress leader Randeep Surjewala for his alleged 'undignified' comments against BJP MP Hema Malini. EC sought the Congress leader's response by April 11, 2024 (5 pm).
Malini is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections from there.
EC seeks Congress chief response
The Election Commission also sought a response from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge regarding the steps taken by the party to ensure strict compliance with its advisories upholding the honour and dignity of women during public discourse by all party leaders.
Surjewala has been asked to provide his response to the Election Commission by the evening of April 11, while Kharge has been granted until the following evening to submit his respective response.
Here's what Surjewala said on Hema Malini
Earlier on April 3, BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya shared a video in which the Congress MP Surjewala could be seen making a "vile sexist comment" against Malini.
Surjewala heard saying in the purported video, "Here is no Hema Malini who can make people licking...no film star. We also respect Hema Malini because she is married to Dharmendra and is our daughter-in-law. These people can be film stars. But, we are not like them. You make me or Gupta ji an MP-MLA so that we can serve you."
Hema Malini reacts
Reacting to the controversy, Hema Malini, the latter said on Thursday that the leaders of the opposition should learn how to respect women from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to the reporters in Mathura, before filing her nominations for the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leader and Bollywood veteran said that the opposition targets only 'popular people'. "They target only popular people because targeting the unpopular ones won't do them any good... They should learn how to respect women from PM Narendra Modi," she said. Hema further expressed her happiness over her re-nomination in the Lok Sabha elections from Mathura.
Surjewala questions authenticity of video
Surjewala said that the video posted by the BJP leader has been edited, distorted and shared to distract the country from the Modi government's anti-youth, anti-farmer, anti-poor policies and its conspiracy to destroy the Constitution of India. "BJP's IT Cell has developed a habit of editing, distorting and spreading fake news so that it can distract the country from the Modi government's anti-youth, anti-farmer, anti-poor policies and failures and its conspiracy to destroy the Constitution of India," he said. "Listen to the full video - I said, "We also respect Hema Malini a lot because she is married to Dharmendra ji and is our daughter-in-law," the Congress leader added.
