Women have compromised their integrity in Congress: Tejaswini Gowda

 

Addressing a public rally held to condemn the increasing number of rapes in the state and the government’s inability to deal with them, Ms. Tejaswini targeted minister Umashree in particular, observing that she  was a relatively new entrant to the Congress unlike former ministers, Motamma or Rani Satish.

 

“But today she is a minister while Rani Satish,  a daughter of a Congress stalewart, has to beg for an assembly ticket and stage a protest in Delhi. In the 2013 assembly elections, the Congress didn’t give a ticket to  even 10 women candidates. Only Umashree had it  easy and I want to know how this was possible,” she demanded.

 

Speaking to the media later she repeated her remarks on camera and claimed she had personally experienced harassment while  in the Congress. Ms Tejaswini , who quit the Congress eight months ago to join the BJP, declared she was ready for an open debate on the issue and had enough evidence to prove her point. 

 

Again in Mandya, she made another contentious remark referring to actress-turned-politician and former Mandya MP,  Ramya. “Ramya got a ticket because she is a celebrity and beautiful.

 

I advise women who are beautiful to be careful before trying to make a career in the Congress,” she said, shocking many in political circles, who said her remarks marked a new low in Karnataka politics and it was unfortunate that such sexist remarks against women in politics had been made by a woman politician herself.