BJP’s Dhankar promises Bihari wives for Haryana

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has kicked up a controversy by saying the party would get girls from Bihar to ensure that all men in Haryana could get married.

Haryana has one of the most skewed sex ratios in the country — 879 girls per 1000 boys as per the 2011 Census.

The comment made by the BJP’s National Kisan Morcha president OP Dhankar has touched a raw nerve with people from Purvanchal demanding a public apology.

Dhankar had made the comment at a speech on Friday while addressing the Kisan Mahasammelan at Narwana.

He had said that if the BJP came to power in the state, which is due for polls in October, it would ensure marriage for all males in Haryana by getting girls from Bihar. As Purvanchali groups threatened a stir, Dhankar claimed on Saturday that he had been quoted out of context. “I have been misquoted by the media. I had said that we want girls who are trafficked to Haryana from poor regions of Bihar should be given security and respect. They should be properly rehabilitated by getting them married to men here,” said Dhankar.

The Purvanchal Ekta Manch held a press conference on Saturday and threatened to launch a state-wide agitation if Dhankar did not tender a public apology.

“He singled out Bihar but this happens with many other states such as West Bengal, Odisha, etc. We voted for the BJP in the general elections and these are the ‘good days’ that we are made to see,” said Manch president Sanjay Singh.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times