BJP woman MP dubbed 'homosexual' on website, Maharashtra minister flays it

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. File pic

A controversy erupted as BJP woman MP Raksha Khadse was dubbed a 'homosexual' on a website, making state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh flay it and assert that the state would not tolerate such 'disrespectful behaviour' towards women.

Deshmukh shared a screenshot of the webpage and tweeted: "Shocking to see such a derogatory description of Raksha Khadse, BJP MP from Maharashtra on the official site of the BJP. Maha Govt. will not tolerate this disrespectful behaviour towards women."

Lok Sabha MP Raksha Khadse from the Raver constituency is the daughter-in-law of senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Eknath Khadse.

The minister called upon the BJP to "take action against those responsible", failing which the Maharashtra Cyber Police would step in.

An apparently unruffled Raksha said that the matter was brought to her notice on Wednesday evening, but added that it was not on the official BJP website.

"It seems there is a page called 'Save Maharashtra from BJP'. We don't know who runs it. It could have been photoshopped. The thing has gone viral," she told mediapersons.

Though the MP asserted that the BJP's 'authorised website' had no such thing, she took up the matter with Jalgaon Superintendent of Police Pravin Munde, who initiated a probe into the "mischief" by some miscreants.

"I would like to say that whatever has happened, deliberately or by mistake, had lowered the dignity of women. Let investigations happen; truth will come out," Raksha said.

As a debate was triggered on the issue, some social media users pointed out that the fiasco may be an outcome of the Google Translate system.

The official BJP website has an option for people to view their content in the language of their choice. In Hindi, Khadse's constituency 'Raver' translates in English to 'homosexual', leading to embarrassment for all concerned.

Several netizens posted the possible explanation below the Maharashtra Home Minister's tweet, though the police probe would reveal the factual position.

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