Bhopal, Aug 26 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing Affairs Minister Kailash Vijayavargiya on Tuesday criticised state Congress chief Jitu Patwari for his “anti-women” remark, saying that he has hurt the sentiments of Ladli Behnas.

The BJP Minister said Madhya Pradesh’s women are “religious”, and the opposition should refrain from making any such derogatory remarks that hurt the sentiments of the ‘Ladli Behnas’.

“On what basis did he (Patwari) make this claim that the highest number of women consuming alcohol is in Madhya Pradesh. I don’t know. But I believe that Madhya Pradesh’s women are religious. His statement is condemnable,” Vijayavargiya said, talking to IANS.

He was responding to Patwari’s claim that Madhya Pradesh has surpassed even Punjab and other states in the consumption of liquor in the past two decades of the BJP government in the state.

“If your children become alcoholics and drug addicts in Madhya Pradesh, then ex-CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and current CM Mohan Yadav are responsible for it. They have made Madhya Pradesh a hub of the illegal drug business. In liquor consumption, the state has surpassed even Punjab and some other states. What surprised that the state has the highest number of women consuming alcohol,” Patwari had said in a press conference on Monday.

Meanwhile, in a scathing attack on Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Patwari accused him of failing to take any concrete steps to control the crime and drug nexus in the past two years in the state.

Patwari had claimed that the state witnessed no improvement under Chief Minister Yadav’s leadership for the past two years, which proved that the latter has been a “failure”.

Hitting further at CM Yadav’s leadership, the Congress leader alleged that even though a large number of youth, including women, have become “addicted” to drugs, no concrete step was taken by the state government in the past two years.

“In the past two years, CM Yadav hasn’t taken any revolutionary steps to reduce crime and to save the people from drug addiction. Forget about men and youths, many women have become drug addicts in Madhya Pradesh,” Patwari added.

The Congress leader also alleged that Chief Minister Yadav failed to bring any consensus among his Ministers on any public issue.

He said that Chief Minister Yadav did not form any ministerial committee, which can discuss the issues and give suggestions to the state government.

–IANS

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