Row erupts over Congress leader’s ‘side dish’ remark on women in politics; BJP hits out

Congress leader C Motamma

• Congress leader Motamma's remarks on women in politics spark BJP criticism
• Motamma urged women to assert themselves, not rely on glamour or obedience
• BJP called the comments sexist and linked them to Congress's alleged mindset

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A statement by Karnataka Congress leader C Motamma on women and glamour in politics has sparked a backlash, with the BJP criticising the remark as disrespectful.

The former minister said women should assert themselves in politics rather than simply remain obedient to be noticed by party leadership.

“Today, in politics, women want to show themselves as glamorous so that leaders can identify them. They show obedience to leaders. This attitude has become common,” Motamma said during the Mahila Vaibhava programme, an event to recognise women achievers, held in Mangaluru.

"Women should stop behaving this way. If they don't, women will continue to be treated as nothing more than a side dish in political decision-making," she added, giving a word of caution.

The Congress leader further stated that women would remain insignificant in politics if they limited themselves to “smiling and pleasing others”.

The BJP slammed the comment, describing it as sexist.

"Across regions, across genders, across states - Congress leaders speak in one voice when it comes to disrespecting women. First MLA Phool Singh Baraiya defended rapists. Now another leader C Motamma mocks women in politics as merely wanting to 'look glamorous'," BJP national spokesperson Pratyush Kanth said in a post on X.

"This isn't a coincidence. This is Congress's DNA. While the Centre pushes 33 per cent women's reservation, the Congress stays trapped in a sexist, feudal mindset," he added.

Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Phool Singh Baraiya had sparked a row after allegedly linking women’s beauty to rape and associating sexual crimes against women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with what he described as “teerth phal” (rewards of pilgrimage).

The Congress MLA from Bhander, Datia district, made the controversial remarks during an interview with a media outlet, and a video of it soon went viral on social media.

In the video, Baraiya purportedly claims that the highest number of rapes in India are against women from SC, ST, and “Most Backward Classes”.