‘Lipsticks and bob-cut hair…’: RJD's Abdul Bari Siddiqui stokes row with remark on women's reservation law

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that was recently passed in both Houses of the Parliament. “Those with lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles would come forward in the name of women's reservation. The government should instead provide reservations for women belonging to backward communities," the former Bihar minister said on September 29, while addressing a public event in Muzaffarpur.

Siddiqui's remarks drew ire from the opposition, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the RJD of exposing its “anti-women" mindset. “The kind of language he had used against women, sisters and daughters of India is shameful, disgraceful and condemnable. It is shocking.

What is this language? What is the real intention? When you were in power did you make any attempt for the empowerment of the OBC for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha? The whole approach is power should only come to the family," senior BJP leader and Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla added that this is “not just the statement and thought process of RJD, but the thought process of the entire INDI alliance today".

RJD's ally Janata Dal (United) distanced itself from Siddiqui's remarks. "Abdul Bari Siddiqui is a senior leader in RJD and if he has made such a statement, JDU can never appreciate it. It is the women’s right to wear whatever they want and it should be them who should decide what they can and can't wear," JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar told news agency PTI.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, another constituent of the INDIA coalition, said such remarks should have been avoided. "We are in the 21st century today. One should avoid