Sona Mohapatra accuses Rahul Gandhi of earning ‘brownie points in sexist landscape’ over Aishwarya Rai remark

livemint.com:

Narendra Modi for the Ram Mandir ‘Pran Pratistha’ event in Ayodhya had remarked “I saw Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Ambani, Adani, all the business people, but I did not see a single poor person". However, the mere mention of former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has courted controversy for the Wayanad's Congress MP, triggered by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

The latest to join the bashing Rahul Gandhi bandwagon was singer Sona Mohapatra, who expressed her disappointment in “politicians demeaning women". Sona Mohapatra, an otherwise vocal celebrity, took to microblogging site X to post a series of tweets rallying behind Aishwarya.

Notably, the Bachchan daughter-in-law is yet to make any comment on Rahul Gandhi's mere mention of her name in a dig against PM Modi. Sona Mohapatra tweeted on Wednesday, “What’s with politicians demeaning women in their speeches to get some brownie points in a sexist landscape? Dear Rahul Gandhi, sure someone has demeaned your own mother (Sonia Gandhi), sister (Priyanka Gandhi) similarly in the past and irrespective you ought to know better? Also, Aishwarya Rai dances beautifully." In another tweet, Sona Mohapatra also schooled an X user, who wrote, “Dancing like a courtesan is beautiful??? Thank God she (Aishwarya Rai) didn't try to attempt Odissi… Umrao Jaan speaks a lot about so called dance.

Even Vidya Balan didn't dare portray Odissi as a court dance. She just essayed the role of an Odissi dancer." Sona Mohapatra wrote in response, "'Dancing like a courtesan' is indeed a compliment you foolish illiterate...