Opposition parties and even Bharatiya Janata Party allies have condemned the derogatory statement of ruling party MLA Sadhana Singh against Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati. 

Republican Party of India leader and Union Minister Ram Das Athawale took a serious note of the BJP MLA’s derogatory remark against Mayawati.

“Our party is with BJP but we don’t agree with disrespectful remarks against Mayawati. She is a strong lady of our Dalit community and a good administrator. I would have definitely taken action if it was someone from our party,” Athawale said here on Sunday. 

Athawale is the president of Republican Party of India (RPI), which is an alliance partner of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.   

”Action should be taken against such leaders to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future” he said.

Appalled by the statement, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra slammed BJP MLA Sadhana Singh as “mentally ill”.

“This shows the BJP’s level, and their disappointment and frustration with the BSP-SP alliance. They do not have strength to win even a single seat in Uttar Pradesh. The level of language shows their mental illness. Such people should be admitted to the mental hospital in Agra or Bareilly. They have lost their mental balance in fear of losing the election in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

BSP’s foe-turned-ally, Samajwadi Party, also condemned the statement. 

“The kind of words used for Mayawati by BJP’s woman MLA from Mughalsarai is highly objectionable. I condemn the statement. The BJP has become completely bankrupt when it comes to morals. They are just frustrated. The statement is an insult to the women of the country,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said.

UP Congress president Raj Babbar also condemned the statement of the BJP MLA saying “there can never be any place for such language in public life’’.  

He said the conduct of the MLA was against the dignity of women and it had dealt a severe blow to the Indian culture and traditions.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo motu cognisance of the objectionable statement made by BJP MLA Sadhana Singh about BSP chief Mayawati. The NCW will be sending a notice to Sadhna Singh regarding the statement in question, official sources here said.

Earlier, in July 2016, BJP leader Dayashanker Singh was expelled from the party for making a derogatory remark against Mayawati during the previous SP regime. 

To counter the BSP, the BJP later brought Dayashankar Singh‘s wife Swati Singh, into politics and she contested the 2017 UP assembly election and won. She is presently a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. The expulsion of Dayashankar Singh was also revoked but he is yet to be rehabilitated in the party organisation.