Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday demanded state Congress president Jitu Patwari’s resignation for claiming women and Ladli Behnas in the state consume more alcohol and drugs than anywhere else in the country.
Yadav has demanded that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge apologise and sack Patwari for his “insulting” comments against women.
“Madhya Pradesh has got a tamga (medal) as women of the state consume more alcohol than anywhere else in the country. The BJP, which dreams of making Madhya Pradesh a prosperous state, is responsible for this situation,” Patwari said on Monday.
He further alleged that Madhya Pradesh has the highest consumption of alcohol in India and has surpassed Punjab and other states in the drug trade. The Congress leader accused the chief minister of failing to take anti-addiction measures.
“Now our sisters and daughters have started taking drugs. The BJP sought votes in the name of Ladli Behnas. The situation has become such that the consumption of drugs among women in MP is the highest in the country,” Patwari claimed.
Yadav has said they reflect the Congress’s “narrow mentality” towards women.
“Congress has insulted Ladli Behnas of the state who constitute half of the total population, by associating them with alcohol. This is unfortunate. The people will make the party pay a heavy price for this insult,” he said.
Yadav said the state government would not tolerate such comments, especially on the occasion of the Teej festival.
“A Congress leader had said he would lock his beloved sisters in a sack. Now Patwari has made some shameless comments against women. Our government will not tolerate the insult of sisters on the day of the Teej festival. People will return this insult strongly,” he added.
The chief minister demanded that Kharge express regret and remove Patwari from his post.
State BJP president Hemant Khandelwal also demanded an apology.
“Today, when crores of sisters across the country are observing Hartalika Teej fast with pure devotion, using such indecent and insulting language against the women’s power is not only an insult to the Indian culture but also to the faith of crores of women,” Khandelwal wrote on X.
The National Family Health Survey-5 data, however, contradicts Patwari’s claims. Official figures show that women’s alcohol consumption is highest in Arunachal Pradesh where nearly 26 per cent of women drink.
In Sikkim, the figure stands at 16.2 per cent, while Assam, Telangana and Jharkhand also feature among the top states.
By comparison, only 1.6 per cent of women in Madhya Pradesh consume alcohol, placing the state well below the national average.