Lok Sabha polls 2024: Polls help raise status of women, EC says censuring BJP's Dilip Ghosh, Cong's Shrinate for derogatory comments against women

While Congress leader Shrinate faced flak for derogatory remarks against Kangana Ranaut, BJP's candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi, Dilip Ghosh landed in hot water for questioning West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's parentage.

New Delhi: The polls help raise the status of women in society, the Election Commission noted on Monday, as it censured Supriya Shrinate of the Congress and Dilip Ghosh of the BJP for making derogatory remarks against the saffron party’s candidate Kangana Ranaut and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee respectively.

“The Commission considers the whole process of conduct of election as a major enhancer of status of women in India and is committed not to allow any erosion of this status in any manner during the election period under its own aegis,” the EC stated in almost similar order issued in the cases of the alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct by Shrinate and Ghosh.

Shrinate, who leads the social media unit of the All-India Congress Committee, was on March 27 served a notice for posting a picture of the celebrity film actress Kangana Ranaut, whom the BJP fielded as its candidate at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, on X, along with a remark that the EC found to be “undignified and in bad taste”. The commission also issued the notice to Ghosh, a Lok Sabha MP and a candidate of the BJP in the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency in West Bengal, for his “offensive and insulting” comment about Banerjee, the chief minister of the state.

The poll panel passed the orders in both cases after studying the responses of Shrinate and Ghosh to the notices issued to them.

“Women have commanded the highest respect in Indian society, past and present, and while the Indian constitution and all institutions of the country have constantly pursued the ideas and ideals of ensuring the rights and dignity of women on all fronts and further empowering them,” the EC noted. The commission also added that it was duly engaged in strengthening women's representation and participation in the electoral process. It noted that the gender gap in electoral registration and voter turnout had vastly improved, and women had in fact surged ahead.

The EC strongly condemned the impugned statements of Shrinate and Ghosh and strongly censured both of them for their ‘misconduct’. The commission also strictly warned them to remain careful in their public utterances as long as the Model Code of Conduct would remain in force.