Modhwadia criticizes Modi for his Gujarati girls malnourished statement

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Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia on Thursday criticised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for linking the level of malnutrition in the state to figure-conscious girls.

"This statement is not only a joke on women, but also an insult to the women of Gujarat. In Gujarat, 55 per cent women are anemic, and 45 per cent children are underweight and 23 per cent children are malnourished. Most anemic women are tribals, and tell me from where are they beauty conscious," Modhwadia asked.

"Reason for this is that Gujarat is spending less on the health of its citizens," he added.

"He (Modi) should either take back the statement or apologize to women of Gujarat and should focus on the health of women and the children," he added

Modi made the controversial statement during an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He linked the state's malnutrition to vegetarianism and figure-conscious girls.

"Gujarat is by and large a vegetarian state. And secondly, Gujarat is also a middle-class state. The middle-class is more beauty-conscious than health-conscious - that is a challenge. If a mother tells her daughter to have milk, they'll have a fight. She'll tell her mother, 'I won't drink milk. I'll get fat'," Modi said in the interview.

Modi's bizarre reply came after he was reportedly asked about the high rate of malnourishment in children in his state.