Satish Poonia Apologises For Calling State Budget 'Kaali Dulhan'

BJP leader Satish Poonia apologises for comparing Rajasthan state budget with a 'dark-skinned bride that went through a makeover'. The Rajasthan BJP President faced public flak for his choice of words and colourist comment in reference to the budget.

On February 23, 2022, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented the state budget in the legislative assembly for the financial year 2022-23. After the budget was presented in the assembly, one of the BJP MLAs and party president in Rajasthan, Satish Poonia, talked to the reporters and said that the budget was like a "kaali dulhan "who was sent to a beauty parlour for a makeover. The remark and the racist reference used by the MLA was followed by outrage and criticism from politicians, activists and the public after which he had issued an apology for his degrading comparison.

Satish Poonia Apologises For His Racist Comment On Rajasthan Budget

After being criticised for his "kaali dulhan" remark, Satish Poonia issued an apology for his wrong choice of words on Thursday through a video on Twitter. He reportedly said in the video that while putting forward his party's views on the budget, he used words that may have hurt the sentiments of some people. He said that he doesn't generally use these words but if they offended someone then he politely apologises for it.

The MLA's apology came after politicians like Govind Singh Dotasra and Lokesh Sharma, the officer on special duty to CM Gehlot, called him out for disrespecting women in a bid to criticise the budget. Satish is the MLA from the Amber Vidhan Sabha constituency of Rajasthan from 2018. In 2019 he became the first ever Jat president of Rajasthan BJP defeating Madan Lal Saini.

Disrespectful and misogynistic remarks are very commonly and fearlessly used in Indian politics and surprisingly, not everybody is concerned over it unless a group of people protest against it or the media calls them out. While public representatives should be setting an example for a better society that considers women equal, these remarks are brushed away as something common and casual.

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