A big problem started in Maharashtra when the state Congress called Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar a “Goongi Gudiya” which means ” doll” on social media. This made a lot of people from the Nationalist Congress Party and other leaders angry.
The whole thing began when the Congress shared a video of Sunetra Pawar leaving a meeting with journalists in Beed without answering any questions. They said she did not say anything while one of her party members stopped the meeting. The Congress asked how long Sunetra Pawar will remain a “Goongi Gudiya”.
This made the Nationalist Congress Party very upset. They said the Congress was using language against the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. They also reminded everyone that someone had used this phrase against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a time ago. They asked if the Congress was now saying it is okay to use this insult against one of their leaders.
The Nationalist Congress Party workers were so angry that they held protests outside the Congress office in Mumbai. They shouted slogans. Asked the Congress to say sorry. There were also protests in Pune and Thane where people said that politicians should not make attacks on each other.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was very angry with the Congress. He said what they did was very bad and that they were only doing it to get attention from the media. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also said that the Congress was insulting not Sunetra Pawar but all the women in Maharashtra. He asked the Congress to say sorry away.
Sunetra Pawar herself did not say much about the problem. She said she would respond at the time. Her supporters thought she was being calm and not making the situation worse.
Even though a lot of people were criticizing the Congress, the president of the Maharashtra Congress, Harshwardhan Sapkal defended what his party did. He said they were just making a point about Sunetra Pawar not answering questions. He also said that Indira Gandhi was called “Goongi Gudiya” once. She proved everyone wrong by being a good leader.
However not everyone in the Congress agreed with this. One of the leaders Prithviraj Chavan said that while it is okay to ask questions making personal comments is not right. This showed that there were differences within the Congress about what they did.
This whole problem has made the fight between the ruling party and the Congress in Maharashtra even bigger. The Congress says they were just talking about Sunetra Pawars behavior in public. The ruling party says they were being disrespectful. This has also started a discussion, about how politicians should talk to each other especially when it comes to women leaders.
