Rahul Gandhi's 'smash patriarchy' message to women -- Is Congress recalibrating its women voter strategy?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Rahul Gandhi's 'smash patriarchy' message to women -- Is Congress recalibrating its women voter strategy?")
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Photograph: (ANI)
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, addressing the Chhatron Ki Goonj campaign in Pune, criticised the Manusmriti mindset and patriarchy, saying women belong to themselves. He urged women to assert their rights and highlighted physical, economic and opportunity-based violence against women.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (Aug 22) highlighted several issues concerning women’s safety, and lashed out at BJP and RSS while calling out their “Manusmriti mindset." He was addressing the Pune leg of the “Chhatron Ki Goonj” campaign that he said was dedicated to “daughters of the nation.” Interacting with students, Gandhi slammed the Manusmriti’s idea that a woman should remain under the authority of male relatives at every stage of her life. He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and played a video of Modi referring to abusive language used by girls during the agitation at Jantar Mantar over paper leaks and calling it a “cultural shock."
The Congress leader said that both boys and girls had used abusive language at Jantar Mantar, but the Prime Minister said he felt a cultural shock because girls used such a language. “If boys abuse, there is no problem and it is allowed, but if a girl abuses, it is a cultural shock,” the Congress leader commented. He also said that women belonged to themselves and not to their fathers, husbands or sons, and urged them to "be loud, be proud." He also said, "Patriarchy suppresses you, scares you, threatens you, controls you. Together we have to finish this patriarchy -- smash the patriarchy! And my message to you, simple message: Be loud, be proud, and fight for your space in society.”
He also referred to an old statement by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that rape happens in “India” and not in “Bharat”, and former Haryana chief minister M L Khattar’s alleged comment that 80 per cent of rapes happen because of women. “So this is a mindset, and this fight is against this mindset,” Gandhi said. “What is the mindset? That a girl has a place, she should be locked in a cage, she should be controlled, she should not work, and boys should get full freedom... if they want to abuse they can abuse, if they want to work they can work... We do not want such Hindustan,” he added. Earlier, referring to the Manusmriti, Gandhi quoted a verse from the ancient text which says a woman must obey her father in her childhood, in youth she belongs to her husband, and when he is dead, she belongs to her sons. “These words are a shame. These words should not have been spoken,” the Congress leader said.
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Is Congress recalibrating its women voter strategy?
Congress is recalibrating its women-voter strategy by moving beyond welfare-centric messaging towards identity, autonomy, safety and political agency. His women-focused ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event specifically targeted Gen Z women, linking their concerns over education and paper leaks with broader issues of patriarchy and social control. The shift is significant because women have increasingly become a decisive electoral constituency in India, with BJP focussing on the women voters since the campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi began for 2014 General Elections. Congress appears to be trying to build a direct emotional and political connect with younger women, specially after the Gen Z student protest in India.
What is changing?
Gandhi’s message that women “belong to themselves” frames women as citizens with individual agency rather than dependents. The focus on patriarchy, safety, economic opportunity and social control broadens the Congress pitch beyond traditional welfare politics. The Pune event was explicitly designed around young women, connecting issues such as exam leaks, career uncertainty and family pressure with gender inequality. Gandhi’s attack on the “Manusmriti mindset” and his criticism of Narendra Modi’s remarks about girls using abusive language are attempts to make gender equality a political fault line. While BJP is also focussing on Gen Z outreach, Rahul Gandhi's focus on Gen Z has also increased even as he did not made an appearance at the Jantar Mantar protest by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
