In the run-up to the 2014 legislative assembly elections in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party had successfully run a campaign asking a question: kuthe neun thevla aahe majha Maharashtra (Where have you taken my Maharashtra?).

As a part of the campaign, the BJP raised questions about inflation, corruption and the crime rate in the state. The campaign was successful in the sense that the electorate in the state voted the BJP to power.

Today, a similar situation has arisen in the state, given the developments on several fronts, like the safety of women, rising crimes, cases of alleged corruption and the language used by those in power.

Prudent people in Maharashtra, who are now in an abysmal minority, were shocked to hear Prem Shukla, national spokesperson of the BJP, abuse the mother of the national spokesperson of the Congress during a live debate on a leading television channel. Shukla, who can be said to be a Mumbaikar, as he once was the editor of a Hindi eveninger in Mumbai, was not in a position to defend his party on the charges made by Rajput. A tongue-tied Shukla suddenly told Rajput that the latter’s mother is a prostitute. By his statement, Shukla displayed his misogynistic attitude.

While the anchor of the show said that such language would not be allowed, he failed to throw Shukla out of the show. While Rajput displayed intellectual maturity by asking Shukla why he was abusing his mother, who is dead, it was shocking that no BJP leader reprimanded Shukla for his remark, which needs to be condemned in........

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