Alcohol will sell more if you name it after a woman.
Outrageous right? These words were uttered by a Minister in the Maharashtra cabinet, recently. According to reports, Girish Mahajan made these derogatory comments during an event conducted by a sugar factory, which also produces liquor under the brand name, ‘Maharaja’.
The Minister said the following,
These days most of the products are sold in the name of women. Tobacco products are sold only because they are named after women. If you feel that liquor products should be sold on top priority, instead of ‘Maharaja’, they should be named as ‘Maharani’.
Here’s a video, in case you are still wrapping your head around what he said.
Misogynistic comment made by a high ranking Minister in the state government. His comments have already received a lot of flak from all quarters, with people wondering if the party the minister belongs to, the BJP, actually supports alcohol.
The Minister has issued an apology for his sexist remark, following an uproar.
This is not the first time Mahajan has courted controversy. He is the same Minister who was criticised for attending Dawood Ibrahim’s relative’s wedding earlier this year. He was also caught carrying a gun to a children’s event.
This blatant sexism by a high ranking Minister shows the pitiful state of the existing patriarchal mindset in this country.