New Delhi: National Commission for Women (NCW) Chief Rekha Sharma has urged Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to "take action" against two of its leaders for using "derogatory" language against another woman.
She said the commission has written to the Election Commission seeking "stringent action against the party and the leader."
The NCW Chief on Tuesday was reacting to purported comments by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate against BJP Lok Sabha candidate Kangana Ranaut
Ranaut has been fielded by the BJP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming general elections.
The purported post by Shrinate on Monday, featured a picture of Ranaut dressed in a corset top with an objectionable caption, has since been deleted, after facing backlash from several BJP leaders and others.
"It is very unfortunate that a woman is using such derogatory language against another woman... NCW has taken it very seriously," Rekha Sharma told ANI.
"Not only one leader but two leaders are saying the same thing on Twitter and later denying that they have made such a post," the NCW chief alleged.
Several BJP leaders have come out in support of the actress-turned politician and criticised the Congress.
"...BJP is working towards taking legal action in this matter. It has become the Congress' habit to insult women--"Matru'Shakti'. The whole of Mandi and Himachal Pradesh is angry. Congress will have to pay for this," Himachal Pradesh Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, told ANI today.
Ranaut, also hit out at the Congress leader, saying every woman deserves dignity.
"We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudice; we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts; and above all, we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur. Every woman deserves her dignity," she added.
"They owe an apology to Kangana... They are big leaders in their party and better conduct is expected from both of them... I hope that Sonia Ji will take action against both of them...," the NCW Chief said.
Replying to a query, she said, "Kangana's reply is very dignified and she took a stance with dignity. A complaint has already been sent to Election Commission..."
As the controversy raged, Shrinate clarified that she could never make such personal and indecent comments about any woman.
"Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Someone from them made an extremely inappropriate post today. As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened," she said. Further, the Congress leader mentioned that some parody account on X has made this objectionable post
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)