Digvijaya Singh just called party MP Meenakshi Natrajan 'tunch maal'

Digvijaya Singh just can’t get it right now, can he? In the latest gaffe, the Congress General Secretary praised fellow party Secretary Meenakshi Natrajan at a rally in Madhya Pradesh by calling her ‘a 100 percent tunch maal’ .  Translated from Bhojpuri, the remark roughly means ‘100 percent sexy woman’. Headlines Today reported, the Congress leader chose to ‘praise’ Natarajan by first pointing out that she was hard-working, a social worker, Gandhian, honest and ended by calling her 100 percent tunch maal. Singh also said that he knew this because ‘main purana johari hoon’ (am an experienced jeweller) to cheers from his audience. Natarajan chose not to react to the remark and refused to comment on it. [caption id=“attachment_988519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Digvijaya Singh in this file photo. PTI[/caption] The remark has sparked controversy given how inappropriate, sexist, and deeply offensive it is. Singh’s remark highlights the sexist attitude that is prevalent among Indian male politicians where even praise for their female counterparts seems impossible without objectifying them as Singh has done. By referring to a ‘hard-working’ party member as a ‘maal’, Singh has highlighted that women in Indian politics shall forever be seen in stereotypical roles: either a maal, a  maa (mother) or a behen (sister). Singh also recently courted controversy by sticking to his comments that the Batla House encounter was fake, despite a court verdict convicting one person for the murder of a Delhi police official. (This copy has been updated.)