Sushma Swaraj hits back at Rahul Gandhi for his RSS remark, says six women ministers in Union cabinet

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday slammed the Opposition for terming the BJP an “anti-women party” and said there are six women cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Rivals call BJP anti-women party but it gave 4 women CMs & 4 women guvs. There are 6 women cabinet ministers: Sushma Swaraj in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/LYFmgwncAr

— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017

“Prior to our govt, no woman was ever a member of CCS, comprising Home, External Affairs, Defence & Finance ministry,” Swaraj further said, as per an ANI tweet. Swaraj was quoted by ANI: “I was made the EAM in May 2014 and now Nirmala Sitharaman is the Defence Minister. Two out of four Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) members are women now.” In another tweet, Swaraj said that such remarks are not expected from politicians:

Mera wahi kehna hai jo aapka kehna hai, netaon ko aisi baat kehna shobha nahi deta: EAM responds to a question on Rahul Gandhi's RSS remark pic.twitter.com/juvGrJI8A0

— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2017

She added that the BJP is far ahead in the political empowerment of women. “The party is making every effort to resolve issues related to women’s safety, empowerment and self-reliance,” she said. [caption id=“attachment_4055433” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Minister of External Affairs for India Sushma Swaraj. AP[/caption] Apart from Swaraj, Sitharaman, Uma Bharti, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Smriti Irani are ministers of cabinet rank. According to India Today, “Swaraj’s remarks came at a town hall organised by the BJP in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad today. Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel also attended the event.” On 3 October, as per India Today, Rahul Gandhi said at a public meeting in Vadodara that the RSS was an anti-women body: “Inka (BJP’s) main sangathan RSS hai. Kitni mahilayan hain usme? Kabhi shaakha mein mahilaon ko dekha hai shorts mein? Maine to nahi dekha (Their main organisation is the RSS. How many women members does it have? Have you seen a woman in shorts at their shakhas? I haven’t seen any).” The Congress vice-president accused the saffron party of neglecting women and said that it neglected women’s rights. Earlier, according to PTI, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain hit back at Gandhi, saying the Congress vice-president is “afraid” of women leaders in the BJP. “Rahul Gandhi will take time to understand the BJP and the RSS… he will have to do research for it,” Hussain said on 11 October. With inputs from agencies