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A little known political party believes that men are a harassed lot and says it will set up a ministry for their welfare if voted to power.
The party 'Mera Adhikar Rashtriya Dal' (MARD), registered in 2018, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow and Varanasi. 'Mard' means man in Hindi.
For the ongoing Uttar Pradesh polls, it has declared candidates for the four assembly constituencies-- Bareilly, Lucknow North, Handia in Prayagraj and Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur. It may announce more candidates later.
"If voted to power, Ministry of Men's Welfare and National Commission for Men will be constituted so that men's side could also be deliberated upon while forming any policy and law," party's national president Kapil Mohan Chaudhary told PTI.
Listing other salient points of the party's manifesto, he said, "Policies concerning the well being, security and dignity of men will be made accordingly. Efforts will be made to bring the Men's Security Bill."
He said, a 'Men's Helpline' will also be introduced to pay attention to the ordeal faced by them given 'some biased women's laws'.
Mentioning the reason for entering the poll fray, Chaudhary said, "It is to empathise and sympathise with half of the population. We are not against the women empowerment. But, when in the name of women empowerment, harassment of men starts, we take exception to it. We are definitely in favour of positive empowerment of women such as education."
"Provision will be made to make maintenance amount tax-free," Chaudhary said and added that alimony (maintenance) is a legal obligation on a husband to provide financial support to the spouse during or after marital separation or divorce under maintenance rules in India.
Chaudhary was critical of the Congress slogan 'Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon' but was all praise for the Modi government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign.
In the name of appeasement of women, anti-male propaganda will be stopped, he said.
The party has also declared that instead of homework being given to children, 'Dada-Dadi' Pathshala will be made at the village/colony level, in which children will be able to learn from the experiences of their grandparents.
"This will help the grandparents to overcome their loneliness and will also facilitate in making children move away from the world of mobile phones. This will strengthen the social structure," he said.
The MARD chief also said that efforts would be made to strengthen the joint family tradition.
When asked to comment on Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon' slogan, Chaudhary said, "What is the point in using the word 'ladai" (fight). It can be 'padhai' (education). You should educate the girls. In this context, we can understand the good theme of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' (campaign)."
Claiming that the party also enjoys women's support, Ashutosh Pandey, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, said, "All of my proposers (during the filing of nomination papers) were women."
"We are also making people aware about the frequent misuse of the Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code," Pandey said.
In a lighter vein he said, 'I got 498 general votes and 1 postal ballot. In other words, I got '498A' votes' in the 2019 elections.
The party has declared Javed Hasan from Bareilly, Brijesh Awasthi from Lucknow North, Vinay Kumar Singh (Handia in Prayagraj) and Sonu Rai (Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur) for the ongoing UP polls.
It may announce more candidates, the party chief said.
Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7 and the results will be announced on March 10.