EC serves notice to Kamal Nath over ‘item’ jibe, seeks response within 48 hours

“Ye unke jaise nahi hai… kya hai uska naam” (He is not like her, what is her name),” Nath asked the crowd which responded by saying BJP candidate Imarti Devi’s name. “You know her better than I do, you people should have warned me beforehand… ye kya item hai… kya item hai,” said Nath.

Devi, state cabinet minister for Women and Child Development, was one of the 22 MLAs who resigned in March, bringing down the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh. She subsequently joined the BJP and is now a party candidate for the bypoll in Dabra, a seat reserved for SC candidates.

On Monday, the Election Commission had sought a “detailed report” from the chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh on the matter. The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also sought an explanation from Nath over his remarks.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday disapproved of his party colleague, saying he did not appreciate the use of such language and that it was “unfortunate”. Nath, however, stuck to his guns and, in fact, said Gandhi’s remarks were “his views”.

Clarifying his stand on the remarks made, the former chief minister said that word he used had “multiple interpretations” and accused Chouhan of politicising the issue to gain mileage ahead of state bypolls.

In a separate incident, a BJP minister in Madhya Pradesh is also facing flak for allegedly using a derogatory term for the wife of a Congress candidate. In a video that went viral on Monday, minister Bisahulal Singh, who is contesting the November 3 Assembly bypoll from Anuppur, was purportedly heard describing the second wife of Congress candidate Vishwanath Singh Kunjam as “mistress”.