Uddhav faction MP stokes row with sexist jibe at Shaina NC, she hits back

An ex-BJP member, she joined Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, after the latter fielded her in the assembly polls.

In yet another instance of a male politician using derogatory language for a female leader, Arvind Sawant, an MP of the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, called Shaina NC of the Eknath Shinde-led faction, ‘imported maal' on Friday.

BJP’s Shaina NC (Yogen Shah)

Shaina NC, an ex-BJP leader, will contest the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls as the Mumbadevi candidate of chief minister Shinde-led Sena, an ally of her former party.

“Look at her condition. She was in the BJP all her life and now has gone to another party. ‘Imported maal' does not work here, only ‘original maal’ works here,” Sawant told ANI.

Later, as a major controversy erupted, he accused Shaina NC and leaders of the ruling Mahayuti (BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP) coalition of attempting to set a ‘fake narrative’ against him.

“They are twisting my statement. What I said was Amin Patel is a local and she is an outsider so this ‘imported maal’ will not be accepted in the Mumbadevi constituency,” he said.

Patel, the sitting Congress MLA from Mumbadevi, is the candidate of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP).

Hitting back, Shaina NC remarked Sawant's statement was a ‘reflection of his mentality’ and people would ‘teach’ him and his party a ‘lesson.’

"Does he think every woman of Mumbadevi is a ‘maal’? You don't respect a woman. You use such words for a capable woman who is in politics. Now you will be ‘behaal’ (defeated). You (Sawant) will have to apologise at Nagpada police station’ she told ANI.

Maharashtra will vote in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes for all 288 assembly seats will be held on November 23.