Tejashwi Yadav rakes up Covid, Pulwama to counter PM's 'mangalsutra' remark

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent comments about 'mangalsutras'. Yadav raked up the losses suffered during the coronavirus pandemic and the Pulwama attack, saying, “The PM should tell us who is responsible for 'mangalsutras' being snatched (a metaphor for widowhood) from so many women.”

PM Modi had made the mangalsutra remark during a rally in Rajasthan. He alleged the Congress planned to give people's hard-earned money and valuables to "infiltrators" and "those who have more children" and added that the party will not even leave women’s mangalsutra.

The remark drew a sharp reaction from the Congress leaders. Congress’s ally RJD also hit out at PM Modi over the remark.

Yadav, speaking to the press, pointed out the losses suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic, the difficulties post-demonetisation, casualties in the Pulwama attack, and confrontations with Chinese troops at the border.

"The PM should tell us who is responsible for 'mangalsutras' being snatched from so many women during the outbreak of Covid, after demonetisation, in the Pulwama terror attack and skirmishes with Chinese troops along the border," said Yadav.

He further said that the polls should be about relevant issues and there was no point in talking about mangalsutra when most women were not able to afford gold because of soaring prices.

Mangalsutra is a necklace worn by Hindu women at their wedding and afterwards, which is considered a visual marker of a married woman.

A day before, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had recalled the sacrifices made by the women in her family to counter PM Modi’s allegations.

Addressing a rally in Bengaluru, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "For the last two days, it is being said that Congress wants to snatch your 'mangalsutra' and gold. The country has been independent for 70 years and there has been a Congress government for 55 years. Did anyone snatch your gold, 'mangalsutra'?"

"During the war, Indira Gandhi gave her gold to the country. Meri maa ka 'mangalsutra' is desh ko kurbaan hua hai (My mother's mangalsutra was sacrificed for the country)... The truth is that these (BJP) people cannot understand the struggle of women," she added.