Vinay Katiyar`s shocker: `BJP has prettier faces than Priyanka Gandhi`

Former Uttar Pradesh BJP president Vinay Katiyar has even refused to apologise.

New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh BJP president Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday stirred controversy by making outrageous remarks against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi.

The BJP leader has even refused to apologise.

The Rajya Sabha MP said Priyanka Gandhi, who has been named by the Congress as its star campaigner for UP Assembly Election, is not prettier than many heroines, who are star campaigners. "The BJP has prettier faces than Priyanka," Katiyar told news agency ANI.

When asked about Priyanka being named as a star campaigner by Congress for Uttar Pradesh polls, Katiyar said: "koi fark nahin padta...(Priyanka Gandhi) Unse jyada toh bahut si sundar aur bhi mahilayein, ladkiyan hain jo star campaigner hain...heroine hai..kai kalakaar hain, woh jyada hain..... unse jayda (It doesn't matter...There are girls and women who are more beautiful than her (Priyanka) and are also star campaigners...Some of them are artists and heroines...They are more beautiful than her)," he said.

Later, Katiyar even refused to withdraw his statement and was quoted by India Today as saying: "Humare yahan Smriti Irani hain jo jahan jati hai waha bheed lag jati hai. Wo unse kahi jayda accha bhashan deti hain (We have Smriti Irani, who more beautiful than Priyanka. There is a crowd wherever she goes. Irani is also a far better speaker than Priyanka)."

The BJP has dropped Katiyar from its list of star campaigners in UP.

Katiyar`s comment comes a day after Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav made a sexist remark. 

Speaking in Bihar, the JD-U MP said the "honour of being able to cast a vote is a much bigger honour than your daughter`s honour".

"If a daughter`s honour is violated, then only her neighbourhood, her village will lose its honour. But if a vote is sold, it is the country`s honour that goes," said Yadav.

The video of Yadav`s comment has been aired by several TV channels and has gone viral on social media. 

Both Yadav and Katiyar attracted severe criticism for their remarks. 

"Most of the male politicians don`t even understand when you talk about objectifying women. There should be something to sensitise these people, to make them aware what are women rights, what these issues are," said DMK leader Kanimozhi.

"They don`t understand what can be said and what cannot," she added.