Union Minister and BJP leader Savitri Thakur's attempt to write the slogan 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' in Hindi on a whiteboard has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. At an event under the 'School Chalo Abhiyan' on Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar, Ms Thakur spelt the slogan incorrectly, drawing criticism from the Opposition.
Ms Thakur, who serves as the Minister of State for Women and Child Development and is a Lok Sabha member from Dhar, mistakenly wrote "Beddi Padao Bachav" on a whiteboard.
The Opposition, particularly the Congress, seized the opportunity to question Ms Thakur's educational qualifications. Senior Congress leader KK Mishra criticized Thakur's literacy, terming it a "misfortune of democracy". According to her affidavit, Ms Thakur has studied till class 12.
"It is the misfortune of democracy that people who hold constitutional posts and are responsible for big departments are not competent even in their mother tongue. How can they be capable of running their ministry?" Mr Mishra said.
Mr Mishra further suggested amending the Constitution to establish minimum educational qualifications for election candidates.
"On the one hand, the country's citizens are being claimed to be literate, while on the other hand, there is lack of literacy among the responsible people. So what is the truth? This is an issue related to the system and not to any individual," he added.
Launched in 2015, the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' is a central government scheme to address declining child sex ratio and women's education.
Dhar district BJP president Manoj Somani defended Ms Thakur, accusing the Congress of harbouring "petty and anti-tribal thinking."
"Savitri ji's feelings and sentiments are pure, but Congressmen are not able to keep their sentiments pure. The tribal community will not forgive the insult of a tribal woman," he said.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Umang Singhar, who is also a tribal leader from Dhar, echoed the criticism on social media. Mr Singhar questioned Ms Thakur's leadership and literacy, suggesting that the incident reflected poorly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's selection of ministers.
"What kind of leadership is this? Does Prime Minister Narendra Modi want only rubber stamp ministers in his government? There is no set standard for how a public representative should be, but at least it should be literate," he said. "It can be understood what the children must have felt when they saw her writing incorrectly. What kind of leadership will she provide in the central government can only be imagined. Voters should have thought before electing such a public representative."
Mr Singhar claimed that the BJP does not want educated leaders.
