Mumbai:

Hitting out at the opposition in Maharashtra after Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Arvind Sawant made a derogatory remark against her, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leader Shaina NC has said while the MP has apologised, another leader from the party, Sanjay Raut has justified the statement, revealing his “mentality”.

A day after a case was registered against Mr Sawant on the complaint of Shaina NC, who is the Shiv Sena candidate from South Mumbai’s Mumbadevi Assembly constituency, the MP apologised for the remark, saying it had been distorted. Speaking on the same day, Sanjay Raut, who is also a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and a member of the Rajya Sabha, defended the statement, claiming the candidate from Mumbadevi had come from outside and was thus ‘imported’. He also pointed out that Shaina NC had switched from the BJP to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. 

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Shaina NC said, “Arvind Sawant called me ‘imported maal (goods)’ and the Mumbadevi MLA, Amin Patel, was smiling. Would Amin Patel have made this remark for his sister or wife? I want to ask the Uddhav Sena about Sanjay Raut’s statement that there is no need to apologise because I am imported. My family has been working in South Mumbai for three generations, I have also shown proof that I campaigned for Arvind Sawant between 2014 and 2019. I was your ‘Ladki Bahin’ then and have become ‘imported maal‘ now?”

“Mr Raut, if you don’t have any objection to words like ‘maal’, it shows your mentality. It is surprising that Mr Sawant apologised after 30 hours but Mr Raut is saying nothing wrong was said. So, what is the official stand of the ‘Maha Vinash Aghadi’ (a play on the opposition coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi)? What is the stand of Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) President Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray,” she asked.

Shaina NC said with the Assembly elections due on November 20, discussions should be about the work that was done.

“The apology was made after a case was registered. Using the word ‘maal’ is objectification and it means that I am someone’s property, which I am not,” Shaina NC said, and went on to list schemes like ‘Ladki Bahin’ introduced for women under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. 

Earlier in the day, Arvind Sawant had said, “I have always been at the forefront of giving women their due respect. My remarks were distorted and I was deliberately targeted. This hurt me. Still, if my comments hurt anybody’s sentiments, I regret them and apologise. In my 55 years of public life, I have never insulted women”

Sanjay Raut, however, defended the remark. “There has been no insult. Arvind Sawant is our senior MP. He just said that the BJP candidate from Mumbadevi (Shaina NC) has come from outside… If she is an ‘imported maal’, how is this an insult to women… What did you say about Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi? You should go through history once…If a person from outside contests elections, people say that they have come from outside…There is no need to create such a big issue,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.