AAP leader Ashutosh was today locked in a bitter war of words with NCW chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam after he was summoned by the women's body for defending sacked Delhi minister Sandeep Kumar, who is embroiled in a 'sex tape' scandal.
"Ms Mangalam, as a chairperson of NCW, you should not lie on a national TV that u r not BJP member. Wikipedia writes You are still a member. Lalitha Kumar Manglam is member of BJP national executive/was national secretary of BJP. If I get notice from NCW, I will react (sic)," Ashutosh tweeted.
"I hope Lalitha Kumarmangalam, member of BJP Nat Ex/ chairman NCW is summoning every writer who wrote about consensual sex. NO pick and choose (sic)," he said in another tweet.
Reacting to it, Kumaramangalam said, "What kind of a journalist are you? You are two years behind time. I am not a member of BJP national executive. I was before. I am not even a spokesperson for the party. I was, before NCW. BJP has a strict rule of one person one post."
"The moment I was offered the chairmanship of NCW, I was told I can no longer be the spokesperson and national- executive member. I accepted the post on those terms. So, Ashutosh you should learn to get your facts right, especially as a journalist, before you issue a statement or tweet."
Earlier in the day, Kumaramangalam said Ashutosh's blog, in which he defended Kumar, was "misogynistic".
"We have asked him to come on September 8. This is in response to what we feel is a very reprehensible and demeaning blog Ashutosh wrote, where he defended a man accused of rape.
"We feel that as a spokesperson of a party that governs Delhi and a party whose members have been accused of many incidents of violence against women he should not be writing a blog like this which reeks of patriarchy and misogyny," she said.
The women's panel chief also said the AAP leader had jumped the gun in calling Sandeep Kumar "innocent".
"Why did he jump the gun. The police had taken cognisance immediately and there was no shroud on what action the police had taken. Jumping the gun is also a sign of patriarchy in our country. This is not a blog especially the spokesperson of a party, whose minister committed the crime, should be allowed to get away with," Kumaramangalam said.
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