Sharad Yadav defends `honour of vote above honour of daughter` statement, says 'didn't say anything wrong`

This is not the first time Sharad Yadav has passed sexist remarks.

Patna: Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday defended his outrageous remark giving more importance to the honour of a vote than that of a daughter.

On Tuesday, the former JD(U) president stirred controversy by saying: "People need to be educated about the ballot paper. The honour of a vote is above the honour of a daughter. If a daughter loses honour, the village loses its honour. But if a vote is sold, the nation will lose its honour. All our dreams for the future evaporate."

The 69-year-old parliamentarian today clarified: "I haven't said anything wrong. Like the way we love, care and respect our daughters we should also do the same in the case of votes than our society can become good, our country can develop and we can have a good government".

"Those who are taking it in wrong sense is not a good thing. Vote is the engine of our Constitution...It is the driving force....Everyone has their own point of view so what can I say," he added.

Sharad Yadav's shocker: “Honour of vote comes above honour of daughter” - Watch

In response to Yadav's controversial statement, JD(U) national general secretary KC Tyagi said it has been taken wrongly.

"We Samajwadis have been of the view that daughter and vote are to be given to a superior person. If a daughter is married to a wrong person, then only one family is destroyed, but if vote is given to wrong person then it destroys entire nation ... This is not at all a sexist remark."

"We are sorry if it (Sharad's statement) has hurt the sentiments of any section of the society," Tyagi said. 

JD(U) leader Kailash said Yadav`s comment was being misinterpreted. "What he meant to say was that a vote and a daughter should be given in good hands. A wrong choice for the daughter can topple her entire household. Similarly, a wrong vote can put the entire state at stake", he clarified.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has urged Yadav to stop demeaning women and contrasting their position in society with the value of vote.

BJP leader Rita Bahguna Joshi said, "Such a remark doesn`t do justice to the position he commands. It`s a highly problematic remark, and extremely demeaning to women." 

The National Commission for Women has, meanwhile, issued a notice to Yadav for his derogatory statement on women.

This is not the first time Yadav has passed sexist remarks.

In March 2015, Yadav earned the wrath of social media due to his comments on "dark-skinned south Indian women" during a debate on the Insurance Bill.

The JD(U) leader had later made a sexist remark directly aimed at then Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani in Parliament.

Earlier, he used the term "parkati auratein (short-haired women)" to argue against the Women's Quota Bill.