OP Dhankar, BJP leader

For promising a supply of Bihari brides to Haryana men for the forthcoming state polls

We have heard all sorts of poll promises, from dole-outs of laptops to wheat, but an offering of wives has to be a first. The credit for this idea goes to OP Dhankar, a BJP leader from Haryana who lost from Rohtak constituency in the just concluded General Election. He was addressing a gathering of farmers recently in Narwana, Haryana, when he revealed how he learnt on his campaign that villagers were getting brides from Bihar and other places.

Haryana’s sex ratio is 879 women to 1,000 men, and a shortage of brides for young men is a serious problem. Dhankar, who is president of the BJP’S National Kisan Morcha, went on to add that Bihar’s BJP leader Sushil Modi was a good friend of his and that he had told villagers that would ensure a supply of Bihari brides who would be compatible matches and will not be picked up from just about anywhere.

Besides being a bizarre election sop, the very idea that he propounds turns women into commodities for the fulfillment of demand. Any sensible politician would be trying to address female infanticide and foeticide, which have led Haryana to this pass, instead of promoting bride trafficking. The BJP, however, insists that Dhankar was misquoted.

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