Women empowerment story incomplete without Indira Gandhi: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not mentioning India's first and only woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in his monthly radio programme speech while talking of "Nari Shakti" or woman power in the country's transformation.

The Grand Old Party of Indian politics said no story of women empowerment in the country is complete without the mention of Indira Gandhi.

"There is no truth in the Prime Minister's talks. His talks and the reality are like North and South Poles. Today, he spoke about women empowerment but that too half-heartedly. No story of women empowerment is complete without the mention of Indira Gandhi, who changed the history and geography of the world," Congress Spokesperson Pramod Tiwari told reporters here.

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"Late Indira Gandhi saved the country from a major economic and strategic crisis within 14 days. Under her leadership, about 1 lakh Pakistani soldiers surrendered (at the end of the 1971 India-Pakistan war). A country Bangladesh came into existence. There cannot be a bigger example of women empowerment," he said.

Tiwari said it was the Congress which gave the first woman Prime Minister, President and Chief Minister to the country, besides other initiatives to empower women in the country.

Taking a swipe at Modi, he said that while talking about women empowerment in his "Mann ki Baat" programme on Sunday, the Prime Minister should also have spoken about the conditions of women in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

"I am expressing my anguish that the Prime Minister is talking about women empowerment but he does not care about what is happening with women in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh," the Congress leader said, asking Modi to ensure action against those involved in atrocities against women in various BJP-ruled states.

IANS