Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan on Sunday found himself in fierce controversy over his “sexist” comment that liquor brands be given the names of women so as to give a boost to their sales.
Speaking at a function organised to kick-start cane crushing season in a co-operative sugar factory in Nandurbar district of north Maharashtra, Mahajan alluded to a lament by the chairman of the sugar unit that there was a slump in the sales of liquor in distillery attached to his sugar factory and came up with a suggestion — albeit in jest — that subsequently landed him an embarrassing situation.
Referring to his visits to senior politician Shankarrao Kale’s largest country-liquor producing distillery at Kopargaon in western Maharashtra and another distillery unit belonging to elderly politician Shankarao Kolhe, Mahajan said, “The chairman of sugar factory here tells me that there is not much of a market for the liquor produced at his distillery. I had gone to Kopargaon, where Kale told me his liquor brand name is Dingri, while Kolhe told me that his liquor brand name is Bobby. The third liquor brand name is Julie. All these three brands are doing excellent business... That’s why I asked your chairman as to what his liquor’s brand name. He said: Maharaja. There lies the problem. I told him he should change the brand name to Maharani. Once the name is changed, you will get to see his liquor sales shooting up”
Without stopping at that, Mahajan said that these days even tobacco brands that carried the names of women were doing good business.
Reacting to Mahajan’s “sexist” slur, Aam Admi Party’s national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Memon demanded the minister’s apology for his “shameless” comment.
“The Minister has stooped so low that he deserves to be condemned by one and all. He has made such a remark that no Minister in the country’s political history would have ever made. He says liquor brands should be named after women like Bobby, Julie etc so as to give boost their sale. How can he make such a shameless remarkIJ. In the first place, I would like to know as to why he wants to increase the sales of liquorIJ. Is it his social responsibility,” Preeti said.
“Secondly, why does the minister want to name liquor after womenIJ In the process, he is trying to commoditise women. His statement reflects the thinking of the RSS and the BJP. My demand is that the minister should immediately apologise to women in Maharashtra,” the AAP spokesperson said.
“If he does not apologise, we would like to know from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis whether he has no control over his ministers. Here is a minister who at times goes to the wedding of Dawood’s relatives and sometimes insults women. If he cannot control his ministers, he should resign from his post,” Preeti said.
Controversies are not new to Mahajan. Earlier in May this year, the minister had landed in trouble for attending the marriage of a relative of Karchi-based don Dawood Ibrahim at Nashik. At the marriage function attended by Mahajan at Nashik on May 19, there was a leading bookie. Also present at the gala wedding function were several senior police officers and elected representatives from Nashik district.
After the controversy broke, senior NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had demanded Mahajan’s resignation, saying: “This the same party (BJP) that had made a huge issue in the past by alleging that our party president (Sharad Pawar) had links with Dawood. A senior minister from this party Girish Mahajan now attends the marriage of a relative of Dawood at Nashik. How does the BJP account for thisIJ Mahajan has no alternative but to resign as the minister forthwith”.
In March 2015, Mahajan had come under severe flak from the Opposition in both the Houses of Maharashtra legislature for attending a function at a deaf and mute children school at Jalgaon in north Maharashtra, with a revolver tucked in his waist.
At that time, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had defended his colleague and said that the minister had not broken any law in the process.
"Mahajan has a licence to carry weapon for last two decades. An arm licence holder is expected to carry the weapon and not keep it at home," Fadnavis had said.