A political storm is raging in Uttarakhand after the ruling BJP’s state president, Bansidhar Bhagat, called the leader of opposition and a senior Congress leader, Indira Hridayesh, a ‘Budhiya’ (an old woman). He made the comment while addressing party workers in an event in Bhimtal area of Nainital district on January 5. Bhagat’s use of the term, which was perceived to be derogatory by the Congress party, came while he was responding to the 79-year-old Congress leader’s recent claim that several BJP MLAs were in touch with the grand old party eyeing a switch. Reacting sharply to his statement, Hridayesh said, she was “hurt and saddened” with the kind of language used by the BJP state president and demanded that the ruling party’s national leadership takes “serious notice” of the incident. Amid the furore over the incident, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat offered an apology to Hridayesh on Twitter at midnight. Although Bansidhar Bhagat has "withdrawn" his remarks, he refused to apologise to the Congress leader.
