Be loud, be proud and combat on your house in society was Rahul Gandhi’s “easy message” to ladies, exhorting them to “smash the patriarchy” whereas criticising the “Manusmriti mindset”, inviting sharp reactions from the BJP.
The Congress chief positioned ladies, whom he known as India’s greatest power, on the core of his message at an occasion in Pune, telling them they belong to nobody besides themselves.
“I need you to recollect one factor that each single considered one of you is exclusive on this universe. If I used to be to search for any considered one of you, I will be unable to discover a duplicate of that individual. You might be distinctive, you’re particular, you’re particular person and you’ve got your personal dream, your personal imaginative and prescient on your life. Am I proper or am I incorrect?” Gandhi, who traded his white T-shirts for a vibrant yellow half-sleeved button-down shirt, mentioned whereas addressing the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ occasion in Pune.
आपकी पहचान आप खुद हैं – आपके सपने, आपकी आकांक्षाएं और आपकी अपनी उपलब्धियां।
हर रिश्ता ज़रूरी है, मगर उन सबसे ज़्यादा ज़रूरी है आपका अपना अस्तित्व।#ChhatronKiGoonj pic.twitter.com/v4NNKlSHkS
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 23, 2026
“Sure,” the largely ladies crowd roared again.
“You might be this nation’s basis, its future. Patriarchy crushes you, frightens you, controls you. We should work collectively to dismantle this patriarchy. Smash the patriarchy. My message to you, a easy message: be loud, be proud and combat on your house in society,” he exhorted the ladies.
Girls are the power of India – its basis, its current, and its future.
You belong to nobody however your self.
Be loud. Be proud. Battle on your house.
Smash the patriarchy!#ChhatronKiGoonj pic.twitter.com/sRAbs8m2ZA
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 22, 2026
Gandhi, the Chief of the Opposition within the Lok Sabha, mentioned ladies are put in three containers: as a daughter, as a spouse or as a mom, underscoring that they solely belong to themselves.
“At any time when I communicate to a person, ladies are put in three containers: as a daughter, as a spouse or as a mom, nothing incorrect with it. However this can’t be your solely identification. It can’t be. We now have sensible ladies and the one identification that they’re given by our males is these three and spot that each single a kind of identities has a relationship with a person,” he mentioned.
The Congress chief then quoted from Manusmriti, a Hindu textual content containing legal guidelines that shaped the premise of societal organisation and the judicial system of historical India, critiquing it for confining ladies to restrictive roles.
“And I might wish to quote over right here from the Manusmriti. In childhood a feminine have to be topic to her father, in youth she belongs to her husband, when her lord is useless, she belongs to her sons. A lady mustn’t ever be impartial. This can be a direct quote from the Manusmriti. These phrases are a disgrace as a result of these phrases ought to by no means ever have been spoken. The most important power of this nation is the truth that our ladies ought to be impartial, ought to stand for themselves, ought to imagine in themselves. You belong to no person. You don’t belong to anyone, besides your self,” Gandhi mentioned.
Rahul Gandhi’s selfie second at Chhatron Ki Goonj occasion in Pune
Taking exception to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Manusmriti, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urged him to learn up on puranas to know the textual content.
“A society that forgets its ancestors has no future; sadly, by forsaking India’s traditions and values and succumbing to delusion, a mission has been undertaken to conspire towards India. If you wish to learn about Manusmriti, learn the Atharvaveda and the Matsya Purana; one can find all the knowledge there,” Yogi Adityanath mentioned.
Violence is utilized in society to forestall ladies from progressing, Rahul Gandhi mentioned, citing varied statistics about crimes towards ladies and the discrimination they face. He listed “three types of violence towards ladies — bodily violence, violence by denial of alternatives, financial violence”.
Rahul Gandhi identified the varied statistics about crimes towards ladies and the discrimination they face
Gandhi mentioned 4.5 lakh feminine foeticides happen yearly, 80 per cent of ladies encounter harassment, 29 per cent endure bodily violence, and 6 per cent face rape. He claimed 99 per cent of incidents of sexual violence are usually not reported due to social stigma. He additionally claimed that 84 per cent of ladies want their household’s permission to take up employment.
The Congress chief mentioned if you happen to go round asking what’s India’s greatest power, solutions will vary from “our economic system, our individuals, our navy, our medical system, our individuals”, however he believes it is ladies after which defined how.
Rahul Gandhi with ladies at Chhatron Ki Goonj occasion in Pune
“I’m very clear on what’s India’s greatest power, our greatest asset and that power is 70 crore distinctive journeys, distinctive imaginations , distinctive desires that the ladies of India live. Somebody would possibly say properly there are 70 crore males, how do you say that 70 crore ladies are extra essential. What’s your logic? My logic is the next. Girls are by nature extra delicate, extra mild, extra compassionate, and extra forward-looking than males. And that’s the reason I imagine basically that India’s ladies – younger, outdated – are India’s greatest asset,” he mentioned.
That is India’s greatest power 👇 pic.twitter.com/2tylQc6oEJ
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 24, 2026
Gandhi performed a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi referring to abusive language utilized by ladies throughout the agitation at Jantar Mantar over paper leaks and questioning how “daughters” may use such language, calling it a cultural shock.
The Congress chief mentioned each girls and boys had used abusive language at Jantar Mantar, however the Prime Minister mentioned he felt a cultural shock as a result of ladies used such a language.
If boys abuse, there isn’t a drawback and it’s allowed, but when a lady abuses, it’s a cultural shock, the Congress chief commented.
He additionally referred to an outdated assertion by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that rape occurs in “India” and never in “Bharat”, and former Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar’s alleged remark that 80 per cent of rapes occur due to ladies.
“So it is a mindset, and this combat is towards this mindset,” Gandhi mentioned.
𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒚 pic.twitter.com/A9QmzcM52Q
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 23, 2026
“What’s the mindset? {That a} lady has a spot, she ought to be locked in a cage, she ought to be managed, she mustn’t work, and boys ought to get full freedom. They’ll do no matter they need, in the event that they wish to abuse they’ll abuse, in the event that they wish to work they’ll work… We don’t want such Hindustan,” the Congress chief mentioned.
Rahul Gandhi mentioned ladies have been put in containers, underscoring that they solely belong to themselves
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis known as out Rahul Gandhi’s “hypocrisy” for preaching ladies’s empowerment whereas opposing the Girls’s Reservation Invoice. The Chief Minister labelled the Congress as a directionless celebration of “showoffs and loudmouths”.
“Coming to Pune to speak about ladies empowerment after which opposing the very Invoice that might give them actual energy; that is Rahul Gandhi’s hypocritical stand for you,” Fadnavis mentioned.
Senior Congress chief P Chidambaram blamed Fadnavis’ assertion on “cognitive fatigue” and reminded him that the Congress supported the invoice in each homes of Parliament.
CM Maharastra, Mr Devendra Fadnavis is reported to have mentioned:
“Rahul Gandhi makes massive statements about ladies empowerment on stage. However with regards to passing the Girls’s a Reservation Invoice, he and his celebration staunchly opposed it”
I’m positive the assertion was on account of cognitive…
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 24, 2026
“CM Maharastra, Mr Devendra Fadnavis is reported to have mentioned: “Rahul Gandhi makes massive statements about ladies empowerment on stage. However with regards to passing the Girls’s a Reservation Invoice, he and his celebration staunchly opposed it”. I’m positive the assertion was on account of cognitive fatigue. As a result of the Structure (106th Modification) Invoice offering for 33% reservation of seats within the Lok Sabha and the State legislative assemblies was handed in Parliament in 2023. The Congress wholeheartedly supported the Invoice in each Homes of Parliament,” Chidambaram posted on X.
The Modi authorities has, in April, introduced a Invoice for the Delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in tandem with amendments to the Girls’s Reservation Act, which might enhance seats within the Decrease Home to 850 primarily based on the 2011 Census, with 33% reservation for ladies. The Opposition defeated the Structure modification Invoice. The Congress spotlighted that it was in favour of freezing the Lok Sabha seats at 543 and 33% reservation for ladies to be carried out for the 2029 basic election.
BJP Basic Secretary Smriti Irani too attacked Rahul Gandhi over the Girls’s Reservation Invoice
“Former nationwide president of the Congress celebration said at an occasion that he helps ladies. Right now, I wish to make a request to the previous nationwide president. Prime Minister Modi has handed a legislation offering 33% reservation for ladies throughout the nation, enabling them to boost the dignity of the nation’s Parliament. Prime Minister Modi has appealed to all political events to cooperate with him within the swift implementation of this ladies’s reservation legislation. I humbly ask him to help the Prime Minister’s initiative, particularly the swift implementation of the legislation offering 33% reservation for ladies and enabling them to tackle management roles in Parliament,” Irani mentioned.
Staff Uddhav Thackeray MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, praising the Congress chief’s occasion, mentioned it is very important hear the ladies’s voices and provides them a way of confidence.
“I am glad that the occasion that occurred was a profitable occasion as a result of it is essential to listen to the ladies’s voices. It is essential to offer them that sense of confidence that there’s a chief who’s speaking about them and speaking about how they need to get out of that mindset of patriarchy and combat that and smash it… However BJP will proceed to say what it needs to…,” Chaturvedi instructed information company ANI.
Throughout one of many interactions on the occasion, a girl instructed Rahul Gandhi that “males wish to marry honest, educated and wholesome ladies however he would not need a lady like me who needs to pursue her profession”.
Each single considered one of you is exclusive on this universe. pic.twitter.com/JdaiDwhED5
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 22, 2026
“However you’re a very stunning, lady, what do you imply he would not need a lady such as you,” Rahul Gandhi mentioned, with the group cheering him and the lady.
