Priyanka Chaturvedi vs NCW chief over Nitish Kumar’s remarks on women in Bihar assembly

A war of words broke out between chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi over Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s remarks on the importance of women’s education to control the population.

Nitish Kumar, while stressing the importance of education among women to control the population, put forward a vivid description in the state assembly of how an educated woman can restrain her husband during sexual intercourse.

The NCW said it “vehemently condemns the recent statements made by Kumar in the Vidhan Sabha. “Such remarks are not only regressive but also egregiously insensitive to women’s rights and choices. Bihar’s chief minister should issue an apology to women across the country for these deeply offensive remarks,” NCW said on X.

Taking to the social media platform, NCW chief Rekha Sharma also demanded an “immediate and unequivocal apology” from the Bihar chief minister.

“On behalf of every woman in this country, as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, I demand an immediate and unequivocal apology from the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. His crass remarks in the Vidhan Sabha are an affront to the dignity and respect that every woman deserves.

Such derogatory and cheap language used during his speech is a dark stain on our society. If a leader can make such comments so openly in a democracy, one can only imagine the horror the state must be enduring under his leadership. We stand firm against such behavior and call for accountability,” Sharma wrote on Tuesday.

In another post, the NCW chief tagged Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi, urging the INDIA bloc leaders to condemn and demand Kumar’s apology.

“It will be good if the champions of the women’s cause @priyankac19 @priyankagandhi @BDUTT @AtishiAAP and their friend join in to condemn and demand apology from @NitishKumar.” Sharma posted.

However, it, apparently, didn’t go down well with Chaturvedi, who was quick to hit back at the NCW chairperson.

“My dear biased, politically motivated Madam, I do unequivocally condemn any language used for women which is derogatory-irrespective of my politics, even if it comes from an ally. I am also certain that Chief Minister will revisit his usage of words and apologise. Unfortunately as far as I recall, whenever we expected you to stand up for women, you chose selective silence and selectively action- doing a huge disservice to your chair as NCW which is supposedly non partisan.” the Sena MP replied.

However, this didn’t end there. On Wednesday, Responding to Chaturvedi’s post, Sharma said, “My not so Dear Priyanka ji do you remember how you showed your inability to do anything against a leader who was once upon a time in your party when I showed you all the proofs of his deeds? How unbiased you were..remember?”

What did Nitish Kumar say on sex education?

“The husband’s acts led to more births. However, with education, a woman knows how to restrain him… this is the reason the numbers (of births) are coming down,” Nitish Kumar said in a rustic style.

“You, journalists also understand it well. Earlier it (fertility rate) was 4.3, but it has now reached 2.9. And, soon we will reach 2,” the Bihar CM said in the assembly.

BJP slams Nitish Kumar

The opposition Bharatiya Janata charged Kumar with “bringing shame” to the state’s women by speaking of the procreation process in detail. BJP MLAs Gayatri Devi and Sweety Hembram told reporters that “age has caught up with the chief minister who seems to have lost all sense of propriety”.

State BJP president Samrat Choudhary, who is a member of the legislative council, said, “Nitish Kumar has brought shame to 6.5 crore women of Bihar. I request him with folded hands to be mindful of his words and deeds.”

“This is not the first time when the CM’s behaviour in public has been indiscreet. I think it will not be long before women and girls start shying away from attending his functions,” he claimed.

Tejashwi Yadav defends Nitish Kumar

Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, however, defended Nitish Kumar, saying that whatever he said should be seen from the right perspective.

“There was nothing objectionable. These things are taught to children in schools as part of sex education,” he said.

Congress MLA Neetu Devi, whose party is a part of the ruling alliance, also said that Kumar did not speak with bad intentions.

“He was trying to make a simple point but the BJP is indulging in mischief,” she said.