Election Commission on Tuesday issued a showcause notice to Congress leader Randeep Surjewala over his controversial remark against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hema Malini.

In a video shared by BJP, Surjewala was quoted as saying,”Why people elect their MLAs/MPs? So that they (MLAs/MPs) can raise the public’s voice. It’s not like Hema Malini, who was elected to lick.”

Surjewala had accused the BJP IT cell of ‘distorting’ the clip and sharing it on social media. “Watch the full clip. What I said was that we have great respect for Hema Malini ji, who is married to Dharmendra ji, and, therefore, is our daughter-in-law,” he had said. 

Reacting to the purported remark by Surjewala, the actor-politician had said that the Congress targets popular people because targeting unpopular ones won’t them any good. 

“They should learn how to respect women from PM Narendra Modi,” Malini, who is seeking a third straight term as MP from Mathura, said.

Sharing an excerpt of Surjewala’s alleged remark, the poll panel said,”Needless to say that the above comments are undignified, vulgar and uncivilised and have not only caused great insult to Smt Hema Malini and disrespect to her position as a member of parliament, but also causes damage to honour and dignity of women legislators, across political formations, of women in public life and of all women in general.”