Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal submitted a complaint to the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Thursday against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann regarding alleged derogatory comments made during an International Women's Day event.
Badal visited the NCW office to address remarks Mann reportedly made at a function held at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, where successful women were honoured.
“Today, I have come to the NCW office to file a complaint against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He had gone to an event at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana on the occasion of Women’s Day, where successful women were to be honoured, but he used vulgar, filthy, and derogatory language against them,” Badal stated.
She further accused Mann of making comments reflecting on his college days that she characterised as inappropriate.
“He said (Bhagwant Mann) that coming among you reminds me of my college days, when if there was a beautiful girl there, I would tell my friends, ‘This is your bhabhi,’ and he used words like ‘patola’. This shows what his mentality is like,” she said.
Badal met with NCW Member Secretary Sudeep Jain to submit her complaint, which will be forwarded to NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar.
“I met the NCW Member Secretary and gave him my complaint. He will send the complaint to the Chairperson. I hope that the NCW will take action, summon him, and through legal proceedings make him apologise as well,” she added.
Earlier on the same day, the Punjab Congress lodged a formal complaint with the NCW, accusing Chief Minister Mann of making derogatory and objectifying remarks towards women during an official International Women’s Day function on March 8 in Sunam, Sangrur district.
The complaint noted that the Chief Minister used terms such as “Patola” and other colloquial expressions that allegedly reduced women to objects of physical attraction and amusement. It also alleged that some remarks had communal overtones inappropriate for a public address from an official platform.
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) contended that such language from a constitutional authority undermines women’s dignity and contravenes constitutional guarantees of equality and respect. The complaint emphasised that making these comments on International Women’s Day further amplified the gravity of the matter.

