‘BJP budget like birth of a boy, Congress budget a girl child’: Rajasthan BJP MLA

“And when Ashok Gehlot was the CM, he made announcements in his last budget, but a girl child was born, not a boy child, and hence you’re sitting in the Opposition,” Koli said.

Other BJP MLAs sitting near Koli could be seen laughing at his comments.

Koli, a Lok Sabha MP and a third-term MLA, has two sons and two daughters from his 1977 marriage to Lakshmi Devi.

Demanding a public apology from Koli, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said, “The anti-girl child remarks made by the BJP MLA are clear evidence of the BJP’s anti-women and patriarchal mindset. His assertion that the Bhajan Lal government’s budget is ‘born a boy’ and the Gehlot government’s budget is ‘born a girl’ reflects a deeply conservative and narrow mindset.”

“They probably don’t remember that when a girl is born, she becomes Rani Lakshmibai and gives the British a tough time, and when she becomes Indira Gandhi, she destroys the nation’s enemies. And when she becomes Sonia Gandhi, she empowers the marginalised. Figures like warrior Kalibai, Amrita Devi, martyr Hadi Rani, and Mirabai are revered in Rajasthan, so why does the BJP have such an anti-girl mindset?” Jully said.

Referring to former CM Vasundhara Raje and Sumitra Singh, he said, “The budget which Koli was praising was also presented in the House by a woman, and the Speaker of the House in which he stood and made this indecent statement was also once a woman.”

He said that such thinking “is not only an insult to women but also undermines efforts to achieve gender equality in society. If public representatives themselves use such discriminatory language, how will gender discrimination be eradicated from society?”

Talking to The Indian Express, Koli defended his words saying, “What is wrong in this? It is our Brij bhasha.”

Asked if he believed his comments were wrong, Koli doubled down saying, “Kya bayan galat tha? (How was it wrong?) I said a good budget has been tabled, that a chhora (boy) has been born.”

“A young budget has several meanings. If a child is born to a person in their youth, then the child helps in their old age. But if a child is born in one’s old age – be it a boy or girl – then by then it’s time for their death; so, what sukh (comfort) will such a child give in old age, be it a boy or a girl,” Koli said.

“If you’re married and have a son by 25, then that child will be an adult by the time you’re 50, and will support you through thick and thin. But if you have a child at 50, then it’s too late as it’s already time for Raam naam satya hai (death),” he said.

Repeating his comments, he said, “They tabled a populist budget ahead of elections to fool the public – which is like the birth of a girl child – while we have tabled good budgets early on.”

Reminded of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ slogan, Koli said, “Where have I said anything wrong, I have merely said that presenting a (populist) budget in the last year is like the birth of a girl child toh ye tumhare koi kaam ki nahi hui (then she is useless). She won’t be with you through thick and thin, then be it a boy or a girl.”