Former NCW chief criticizes AAP MLA Naresh Balyan over "roads like Hema Malini's cheeks" remark

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 5 (ANI): Former chief of National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma has lashed out at Delhi's AAP MLA Naresh Balyan for his "misogynist" statement against actor-turned-politician Hema Malini where the legislator promised to make roads as "smooth as Hema Malini's cheeks."
The Uttam Nagar MLA Balyan is seen making the sexist comments during a live Facebook session.

"It is very unfortunate that leaders, especially those from the INDI bloc, are giving misogynist and sexist remarks in different parts of the country. The same kind of remarks were given by Lalu (Prasad Yadav) around 40 years ago. These people call themselves leaders, but I think people should now, especially during elections, teach them a lesson that such kind of people, let alone leaders, are unacceptable in society," Rekha Sharma told ANI.

Urging the Aam Aadmi Party to take strict action against its party MLA, Sharma said that such people should be "thrown out of the system".

"I will now appeal to the leader of AAP that these kind of people should be thrown out of the system. Even in Maharashtra, we have seen that many leaders are speaking ill about women candidates, but it is unfortunate. Now is the time for people to select leaders who respect women," Rekha Sharma said.

Former Chairperson of the Delhi Commission of Women, Swati Maliwal also took a dig at the AAP MLA for making "anti-women statements" and asked Arvind Kejriwal take immediate action against the legislator.

"Delhi's Uttam Nagar MLA Naresh Balyan says that "we will make the roads like Hema Malini's cheeks"! No amount of condemnation of this anti-women statement is enough. This man has been sleeping for the entire ten years due to which the roads of Uttam Nagar are in a dilapidated condition! By not working even today, he is only demonstrating his poor thinking. Such a cheap thinking that considers women as objects has no place in the society. @ArvindKejriwal ji is appealed to take immediate action against this person with anti-women thinking," Swati Maliwal wrote in a post on X. (ANI)