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Rahul Gandhi's photo on sanitary pad boxes: BJP says it's ‘an insult to the women of Bihar’
Bihar Congress President Rajesh Kumar held up the sanitary pad packets and said the party vows to benefit five lakh women through them.
Congress’s latest political outreach ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections has stirred controversy, after the state unit launched a sanitary pad distribution initiative featuring Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s photo on the packaging.
At a press conference on Friday, Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar unveiled the campaign, under which sanitary napkins will be distributed to around five lakh women across the state. The initiative, he said, would be spearheaded by the Mahila Congress.
“We will launch a campaign through Mahila Congress to distribute sanitary napkins to women. We aim to distribute it to around 5 lakh women, and Mahila Congress workers will create awareness around the subject,” Kumar told reporters, holding up sample packets.
However, the BJP has objected strongly to Rahul Gandhi’s image being used on the packets, calling it “an insult to the women of Bihar.”
“An insult of women of Bihar with Rahul Gandhi's picture on sanitary pad! Congress is an anti-women party! Women of Bihar will teach Congress-RJD a lesson,” BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari posted on X.
Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are part of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, which is eyeing a comeback in the upcoming elections.
Although reports suggest the alliance has reached a seat-sharing agreement, a formal announcement is still awaited.
The state is set to go to Assembly polls later this year, and parties have started gearing up for it.
Bihar is expected to head to the polls later this year, with parties stepping up their campaigns.
In May, Rahul Gandhi visited several parts of Bihar, interacting with locals and criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had accused the PM of ordering a caste census “out of fear” of the country’s marginalised communities.
The state is currently governed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). The Mahagathbandhan is hoping to wrest power from the ruling coalition.
