'Bikini, ghoonghat, jeans': Priyanka bats for 'ladki hoon' on hijab row

Lucknow/Bhopal: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear. The right has been guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, the Congress general secretary said adding that a woman can choose to wear a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or a hijab. The comments come amid the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka owing to which all educations institutions have been shut for three days. Priyanka linked the issue with the Congress's poll slogan of women empowerment in Uttar Pradesh 'Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon'.

Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or a hijab, it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear.

The Congress has been supporting the protesting students with former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor extending their support to the cause.

"By letting students' hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn't differentiate," Rahul had tweeted earlier. The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday said that no proposal to ban 'hijab' in educational institutions in the state is under its consideration even as state school education minister Inder Singh Parmar, who had backed 'hijab' ban and proposed a dress code in schools, said that his statement was "wrongly interpreted".

There is no controversy over (the wearing of) 'hijab' in Madhya Pradesh. No proposal is under consideration of the state government regarding hijab ban. So, there should be no confusion in this regard, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who is also spokesperson of the state government, told reporters.

When asked about the protests for and against the wearing of 'hijab' or headscarves in Karnataka, Mishra said this matter is related to Karnataka which is pending before the High Court there.