Harsimrat Badal: Remarks against Jaya Bachchan shameful

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Tuesday slammed Rajya Sabha member Naresh Agrawal, who started off his new innings in the BJP with a controversial remark by referring to actress and politician Jaya Bachchan as a "mere film dancer".

"The statement he has given is very shameful. It needs to be condemned," the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader told reporters in the Parliament House complex in New Delhi.

The SAD is one of the oldest allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She said the remarks show Agrawal's mindset and hoped that Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu will take a call on it.

"When an elected representative speaks such language, it shows his mindset. It sends a wrong message to the young generation," she said.

Asked about action against Agrawal, Badal said: "He himself should feel ashamed. I have faith in Venkaiahji. He respects women a lot and will do the needful."