"Will Send You On Chandrayaan-4": ML Khattar's Reply To Woman Sparks Row

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has mocked a woman at a public event when she asked him for a factory in her neighbouring village saying that she would be sent on the Chandrayaan-4 mission.

In an unverified video which went viral, the woman is heard asking for setting up a factory in her neighbouring village of Bhatol Jattan so that it can generate employment opportunities for women.

In response to this, in the video clip, Mr Khattar is heard purportedly saying, "Agli baar chaand ke upar ek aur jo jayega na Chandrayaan-4, usme bhejenge. Baith jao. (next time you will be sent to the moon on Chandrayaan-4. Sit down)".

Opposition Congress and AAP on Thursday attacked Mr Khattar over his "Chandrayaan" remarks.

The venue of the public gathering is not clear in the video clip. Mr Khattar is currently in Hisar district as part of his Jan Samvad programme.

The short video clip was shared online by some Congress and AAP leaders from the state.

Senior Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Deepender Singh Hooda and Aam Aadmi Party leader Anurag Dhanda slammed Khattar.

"The sense of contempt and disrespect towards women is in the DNA of BJP/RSS only! The BJP CM of Haryana, in the arrogance of power, is shamelessly displaying the same anti-women thinking! "On the woman asking that a factory should be set up in her area so that she and the women there can also get employment, CM Khattar publicly mockingly says that 'Next time when Chandrayaan will go to the moon, I will send you in it'," Mr Surjewala posted on X in Hindi.

Mr Surjewala also said that on the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami, "people from Haryana to Madhya Pradesh will break their ego and will also show them the moon and stars during the day itself".

AAP's Dhanda, in a post on X, said, "It is unfortunate for Haryana that there is a BJP rule".

"Shame on such a Chief Minister. Those who were elected by the public to serve, today they are making fun of the public," AAP posted on X in Hindi.

Congress' Deepender Hooda said "cracking crude jokes with the sentiments and demands of the public, especially women, in public programmes has become a daily routine for Chief Minister Khattar Sahib".

"Please mark my words, this time their arrogance is going to be badly shattered," Mr Hooda said on X.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)