Just before the 2014 elections, in an interview with a popular news anchor, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi came across as a deer caught in the headlights. Many believe that with that interview, he did not just throw the election, but his political career as well.

Completely out of depth and lunging desperately for words, he kept coming up with just two: “Empowering women."

What then became a national joke has turned into national irony after 11 years of Narendra Modi as prime minister. It is as if the ruling BJP has snatched women’s empowerment out of Rahul Gandhi’s mouth and turned it into its own mission.

On completing 11 years, the Modi government is predictably advertising its achievements. Big-ticket reforms get the most coverage and prominent among them are the deep changes the government brought for the nation’s women.

Building more than 12 crore toilets........

© News18