Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | What is the stand of Sena (UBT) on women’s respect, asks Shaina

Mumbai: Shiv Sena candidate from Mumbai’s Mumbadevi assembly constituency Shaina NC on Saturday demanded to know the official stand of Shiv Sena (UBT) on women's respect, referring to its MP Arvind Sawant’s alleged derogatory remarks against her.

“Under pressure, Arvind Sawant apologised after 30 hours, while (his party colleague) Sanjay Raut justifies me being dismissed as an ‘imported maal’,” Shaina told a press conference.

Shaina, formerly with the BJP, claimed that her rival candidate from Congress Amin Patel laughed when Sawant made the “objectionable” comment.

“Would he react the same way if the remark was directed at a woman from his religion or community,” she asked. Sena (UBT) should spell out its stand on women's respect, she said.

Sawant on Saturday apologised for his alleged insulting remark targeted at Shaina, a day after a case was registered against him in this connection.

Shaina said she was a “ladki bahin” (dear sister) to Sawant when he contested the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat in 2014, much before the division in the Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena.

“I campaigned for him extensively in south Mumbai and Mumbadevi and now I am called an ‘imported maal’. I am a resident of south Mumbai and Mumbadevi is my mother’s home,” she said.

“If an apology has to be given, it should be to goddess Mumbadevi. I am her daughter...I will fight and win,” she said.

Shaina also questioned the silence of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders, including Supriya Sule of NCP (SP) and Priyanka Chaturvedi of Sena (UBT). “The cause of women is bigger than party politics. I have always stood by women irrespective of party politics,” she said.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and Congress are partners of Uddhav Thackeray-headed Sena (UBT) in the opposition bloc MVA.

“(Congress leader) Priyanka Gandhi says ‘Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon (I am a girl and I can fight)’. Why are the opposition leaders quiet now? Why are Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Nana Patole (of Congress) not reacting,” she asked.

If Sanjay Raut claims that Sawant didn’t say anything wrong, what is the official stand of Sena (UBT) and MVA on women's respect, she asked.

“‘Maal’ is objectification. It means you are the property of someone,” she said, adding that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, has empowered women through the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme.

In Mumbadevi, there are 40,000 beneficiaries of whom 15,000 are Muslims, she said.

The Sena candidate said discourse should be on issues in an election. “What has happened to Kamathipura redevelopment, redevelopment of chawls and cluster redevelopment (in Mumbadevi),” she asked.

She also wondered if Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister Aaditya Thackeray, who lives in Bandra and contests from Worli, is not an outsider.

Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said in Baramati in Pune district that he didn’t think there was any personal attack, referring to the controversy. “However, one should take care while talking,” he advised.

Outside Maharashtra, MP Misa Bharti of RJD, Sena (UBT)’s opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc partner, also voiced disapproval of Sawant’s alleged derogatory remarks against Shaina.

“Political differences aside, no offensive remarks should be made about a woman, even if she happens to be a rival,” said Bharti, who is also the eldest daughter of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.