"Go home and cook!" Maharashtra BJP chief's 'misogynistic' remarks on MP Supriya Sule draws flak

"If you don't understand politics, go home and cook," Patil told Sule while talking to the media in response to a comment she had made earlier over the OBC reservations in jobs and education in Maharashtra.

Mumbai: Making a controversial statement on Wednesday, Maharashtra BJP Chief Chandrakant Patil asked Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule to 'go home and cook', hinting that she does not understand politics. The comment has drawn flak on social media while there is outrage among people to what is being called a highly 'misogynistic and insensible' comment.

"If you don't understand politics, go home and cook," Patil told Sule while talking to the media in response to a comment she had made earlier over the OBC reservations in jobs and education in Maharashtra. Patil's reaction came as a response to Sule's question about how Madhya Pradesh, a BJP ruled state suddenly decided in favour of the OBC reservations, while just recently, it was decided that both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will work in coordination in this regard.

Sule, while speaking at a party meeting earlier, had alleged that 'the Madhya Pradesh government got a go-ahead for OBC reservations from the SC immediately after the MP CM's visit to Delhi wherein he met some people.' "I won't name the people he met, but I wonder what happened just in a matter of two days that the state suddenly got the green signal for OBC reservations," she said.

Responding to this, the BJP state chief's remarks came in the form of a sexist comment -- "Why are you in politics if you don't understand it? Go home and cook. Aren't you a politician? Don't you know how to meet a CM? It's time now, go home," he said. Aggravating the matter further when asked about what he thinks of Sule's claim about going to the national capital in this regard, the BJP leader said, "Go to Delhi or go to hell!"

These comments from the arch-nemesis parties came after the BJP's accusations against Maharashtra's Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition of not doing enough for the OBC quota, which the Supreme Court had put on hold. The Maharashtra government, however, cites a lack of data from the central government.

Following the exchange of comments, Sule's husband Sadanand Sule posted the videos of the comments on Twitter, labelling the BJP as a "misogynistic" party. "I am proud of my wife who is a homemaker, mother and a SUCCESSFUL politician, one amongst many other hardworking and talented women in India...this is an insult to all women...," Mr Sule commented in a thread.

• This is the Maharashtra BJP President https://t.co/eu2TYNvsDZ speaking about Supriya….I have always maintained that they (BJP) are misogynistic and demean women whenever they can…

  — sadanandsule (@sadanandsule) May 25, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  This is the Maharashtra BJP President https://t.co/eu2TYNvsDZ speaking about Supriya….I have always maintained that they (BJP) are misogynistic and demean women whenever they can…

  — sadanandsule (@sadanandsule) May 25, 2022

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  This is the Maharashtra BJP President https://t.co/eu2TYNvsDZ speaking about Supriya….I have always maintained that they (BJP) are misogynistic and demean women whenever they can…

  — sadanandsule (@sadanandsule) May 25, 2022

Following the backlash, the BJP minister gave a clarification to ETV Bharat later in the day, saying he 'did not intend to disrespect or hurt Sule's feelings'. "Speaking yesterday, I had said that if she is failing repeatedly to secure an OBC reservation, she should go home instead of working as an MP. There's this rural dialect that we use -- we say 'go home' when we wish to tell someone to just give up. That was my only intention, I meant no disrespect," the BJP chief told ETV Bharat.