The Indian National Congress referred to Maharashtra Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar as a ‘gungi gudiya’ or ‘dumb doll’. Image for the purpose of representation only.
| Photo Credit: File
A Congress social media post calling Nationalist Congress Party president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar a “gungi gudiya (dumb doll)” sparked a political row in Maharashtra on Tuesday (August 4, 2026).
The NCP demanded an immediate apology from the Congress, asking leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra if they endorsed the sexist comments and whether the party would condemn them. The term ‘gungi gudiya’ had once been used to mock Indira Gandhi, in her early days as Prime Minister.
Maharashtra Cabinet Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Narhari Zhirwal, both senior NCP leaders, lashed out at the Congress, while NCP party workers hit the streets and forcibly entered the Congress office in Colaba in Mumbai, shouting slogans against the party. The police had to intervene to disperse the protestors.
Ms. Pawar herself said little, telling reporters that she would “speak at the right time”.
The controversy erupted after the Congress posted a video on Monday night, of Ms. Pawar’s recent press conference in Beed, where a journalist’s question on the deteriorating law and order situation in the district was allegedly stopped midway. Ms. Pawar, the guardian minister of Beed, can be seen getting up to walk away from the press conference as the journalist is stopped by NCP leader Dhananjay Munde.
After the video of the press conference went viral, the Congress posted it on its social media handle and asked, “For how many days will Sunetra Pawar continue to remain a ‘gungi gudiya’ or a ‘dumb doll’?”
‘Prove you are Durga’
The State Congress defended the post, calling the NCP workers’ behaviour ‘thuggery’, and asking NCP leaders to quit politics if they cannot take criticism.
“Sunetra Pawar should prove that she is a ‘Durga’ by seeking the Finance department [portfolio] from the BJP, by allocating ₹2,100 instead of ₹1,500 in the Ladki Bahin Yojana, as was promised by her late husband Ajit Pawar,” said Maharashtra Congress president Harshawardhan Sapkal. “She should take the decision of farm loan waiver for the State’s farmers, she should scrap the decision to install smart meters. If she does that, our allegations will prove false. The State will then call her ‘Durga’,” he said, adding that Indira Gandhi had proved through her actions that she was not a ‘gungi gudiya’.
A family affair
The NCP also dragged Congress ally and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar into the controversy. NCP Maharashtra vice-president Udaykumar Aher said the Congress had insulted not just Ms. Pawar, but the entire Pawar family. “Sharad Pawar saaheb should force the Congress to publicly apologise to Sunetra vahini. Otherwise he should exit the INDIA bloc,” he said. Mr. Sharad Pawar is the uncle of Ms. Sunetra Pawar’s late husband Ajit Pawar.
Expressing anguish at the party’s comments, Mr. Aher said: “The Congress party has not only insulted vahini, but the entire people of Baramati who elected her with a record-breaking majority in the Assembly elections, and by extension, the entire Pawar family including Sharad Pawar saaheb. Sunetra vahini has, time and again, strengthened her and her party’s position in politics with measured words and by maintaining silence at the right moments. The nation has witnessed her steadfast courage. Therefore, Congress should not worry about her.”
Ms. Pawar’s nephew and NCP SP MLA Rohit Pawar said that Dhananjay Munde should have been reprimanded during the press event in Beed. Mr. Munde has been unsuccessfully seeking to regain his ministerial berth in the Maharashtra Cabinet after losing it following the arrest of his close aide in the case relating to the murder of village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
‘Politics must not demean women’
NCP leader Umesh Patil said that while political criticism is healthy in a democracy, it should not mean demeaning women. “Congress has indirectly admitted that the criticism of late Indira Gandhi was justified,” he said. “Democracy allows differences of opinion and even sharp criticism of policies. However, language that demeans women does not befit any political party,” he added, saying that the issue went beyond party politics and concerned the standards of political discourse relating to women in public life.
Another NCP leader Suraj Chavan called the Congress leadership “cheap” over its comment. “The Congress has a tradition of civilised political ideology. The current Congress has drifted away from its ideology and the people. A woman’s respect must be shown not just through speeches, but through thoughts. From the following post, the Congress’ mental state becomes evident,” he said.
Published – August 04, 2026 02:31 pm IST
