Mayawati calls for Mulayam's mental treatment over sexist remark

BSP supremo Mayawati has suggested that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh be admitted to the Agra mental asylum for treatment following his sexist remark against her.

The long-standing hostility Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati came out in the open on Wednesday when, at a rally in Faizabad, the former told party supporters that he did not understand how to address the Dalit leader.

"Meri samajh nahin aata inko kya kahen - behenji, shrimatiji ya kunwari beti (I do not know how to address her - sister, Missus or spinster daughter)," Mulayam Singh told his supporters.

Angry at the remarks, the BSP chief called a hurried press conference at her residence in the state capital late in the night and tore into the Yadav chieftain.

Calling him a man who had lost his mental balance, she suggested that the SP chief be admitted to the Agra "paagalkhana" (mental asylum) for immediate treatment.

"Seeing his severe defeat in the (Lok Sabha) election, Mulayam Singh has lost his sanity and I fear he may now even start calling his grandsons and daughters Mr and Mrs," she snapped while observing that the "grossly anti-women statement" could trigger riots in Uttar Pradesh.

"My supporters are very agitated," she said adding that thousands were ready to come out on the roads. Seeking the intervention of the Election Commission (EC) over the remarks, Mayawati said she had personally telephoned her workers not to do anything that would disrupt law and order and jeopardise the remaining two rounds of polling in the state.

"I could have called you tomorrow to brief you with my reaction to the uncharitable remarks made by the SP chief but I feared things could go out of hands as the statement had irked my well wishers and, hence, this hurried press conference," she explained to the reporters.

Exhorting her supporters to ensure that Samajwadi Party candidates lose in the remaining two rounds, the former chief minister also demanded that the poll panel ban Mulayam Singh's movement and his electioneering.

Mulayam Singh earlier also hit the headlines when during an election rally in Moradabad, he opposed capital punishment to rapists and said youngsters commit small mistakes but they cannot be sent to gallows for the crime. The statement triggered an outrage across the nation.