On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked a minister from his cabinet, Rajaram Pandey, for making a sexist comment about Hema Malini. Apparently at a public rally, Pandey promised the roads of his constituency would be as smooth as Hema’s cheeks. Reacting swiftly the UP honcho sacked the star-struck minister.
Interestingly some years ago, Laloo Prasad Yadav during his tenure as Bihar’s chief minister had made an identical ‘cheeky’ comment on the actress, and gotten away with it. Reacting to the news of minister being sacked, Hema says, “My sympathies are with him. Though his remark was uncalled-for and offensive, I am sure he didn’t mean any harm. I am sure he was trying to entertain the audience at his meeting. And now he has lost his job.”
About Laloo Yadav making the same statement earlier Hema clarifies, “It so happened that I was travelling from Patna to Nalanda for a show. The roads were so bad that I got delayed in reaching the venue. When I expressed my displeasure about the road conditions Lalooji promised to make the roads as smooth as my cheeks. Why my cheeks? If politicians continue to bring in my cheeks as references to roads my cheeks may soon begin to resemble those bumpy roads that are never smooth in spite of the promises.”
Though she sympathises with the minister, the veteran thinks he should have thought twice before making that comment. Hema says it’s unfair to name Bollywood stars to liven political speeches. “Why talk of us in such a flippant way? I think the UP chief minister has sent out the right signal. Politicians and other people in positions of power cannot afford to make careless statements. When you are in the public eye you’ve to be very careful about every word you utter."
