New Delhi: Union Minister Sushma Swaraj Monday questioned Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s silence on party leader Azam Khan’s alleged “underwear” jibe against his BJP rival from Rampur Lok Sabha seat Jay Prada and asked him not to stay silent like ‘Bhishma Pitamah’ did at disrobing of Draupadi in Mahabharata.
The senior BJP leader’s comments followed SP leader Khan’s alleged remarks at a rally in which, without naming actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada, he had said it took 17 years for people of Uttar Pradesh to understand her, but he knew in 17 days that she wears a “khaki underwear”.
Tagging a video of Khan’s remarks, Swaraj tweeted, “Brother Mulayam, you are the patriarch of the Samajwadi Party. In Rampur, Draupadi is being disrobed in front of you. Don’t commit the mistake of staying silent like Bhishma Pitamah”, referring to an incident from the famous Indian mythology Mahabharata.
Swaraj also tagged SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who was allegedly present at the rally when Khan made the controversial remarks, his wife Dimple Yadav and film star Jaya Bachchan, who is also an SP leader.
An FIR has been registered against Khan, even as he said on Monday he did not name any person in his speech and if anyone proves that he had taken any name or maligned anyone then he would not contest the polls.
Without naming the actor, Khan had said at the election rally in Rampur “… You got represented (by her) for 10 years. People of Rampur, people of Uttar Pradesh and people of India, it took you 17 years to understand her reality. But, I could recognize it in 17 days that she wears a khaki underwear.”
Jaya Prada had represented Rampur twice in Lok Sabha after winning the elections in 2004 and 2009 as a Samajwadi Party leader. Later she was expelled from the party, along with Amar Singh, following differences with Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Last month she joined BJP and has been nominated as the saffron party’s candidate against SP’s Azam Khan from Rampur.
PTI
