"One Nation, One Husband?" Bhagwant Mann's Bizarre Remark On Op Sindoor

In a controversial remark, Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann has said that the BJP had turned "sindoor" into a joke and asked if this was a "one nation, one husband" scheme.

"BJP is seeking votes in the name of Operation Sindoor. These people have turned 'sindoor' into a joke. They are sending sindoor to every home. Will you now apply 'sindoor' in (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's name? Is this a 'one nation, one husband' scheme?" Mr Mann said. The Punjab Chief Minister was speaking to the media when he was asked a question on BJP workers seeking votes in the name of Operation Sindoor ahead of the bypoll in Ludhiana.  

The BJP recently announced a nationwide campaign to showcase the Narendra Modi government's success in Operation Sindoor, India's counterstrike to the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 innocents dead. Following the announcement, some reports claimed that the BJP would send 'sindoor' - vermilion - to every home as part of the campaign. The Press Information Bureau trashed these reports.

Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had slammed Prime Minister Modi for the choice of 'Operation Sindoor' as the name of India's strikeback. "The name 'Operation Sindoor' was their brainchild. It was politically motivated. I did not want to say this, especially when the multi-party delegations are visiting several countries and explaining India's stand. But today, the Prime Minister came to West Bengal with the motive of political propaganda," Ms Banerjee said after the Prime Minister visited Bengal. "First, he (PM Modi) described himself as a tea-seller. Then, he described himself as a guard. Now he has come here to sell Sindoor," she added.

In the aftermath of India's airstrikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, several reports said it was Prime Minister Modi who chose the name Operation Sindoor.

Sindoor in Hindi means vermilion, which Hindu women put on their head as a symbol of marriage. The name of the operation captured the loss of these women, whose partners were brutally killed in front of their eyes. An image put out by the Indian Army after the airstrikes had Operation Sindoor written in block letters. One 'O' in Sindoor is a bowl of vermilion. Some of it has spilled over, symbolising the ruthlessness that snatched away the life partners of 25 women. The caption read: "Justice is served. Jai Hind."