Meghalaya polls: Smriti Irani-Sushmita Dev war of words over women safety

Congress MP Sushmita Dev on Sunday hit out at Union Textiles and I&B Minister Smriti Irani for her comment on the lack of women safety in Meghalaya.

She said that Irani has no moral right to come to Meghalaya and talk of women safety when the PM links the dignity of women to gas cylinders. "Can you uphold the dignity of women by giving gas cylinder to the women," said the president of the All India Mahila Congress. "They are talking about women security when the prime minister, despite having the majority, has not been able to introduce the women reservation Bill."

Dev further said that Irani should address the misogyny inside the RSS where women are considered "child-producing machines".

In her rally in Tura, Irani had said spoke about an alleged sexual assault in an inn owned by home minister HDR Lyngdoh's son in Shillong. "The job of a home minister is to protect women and children but in Meghalaya it is the reverse. It is sad and shocking that in Meghalaya, where women are held in high esteem, such an incident has ashamed the state," Irani had said.

Dev said the BJP should not politicise the incident. "The incident was carried out by an independent MLA who is now in jail," she said. She also said that in most of the states that come under the rule of the BJP, the rate of crime against women has gone up. "In states like like Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, one rape is reported every eight hours. In fact, one of the biggest sex scandal in the history of India happened in Kutch and yet, till today, no arrests have been made and no report of judicial inquiry," said Dev.