Guwahati (Assam) [India], July 6 (HBTV): The Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, on Saturday defended the Congress party's decision to include pictures of senior leader Rahul Gandhi on packets of sanitary pads being distributed as part of a welfare initiative.

Speaking to the media, Saikia stated that there was nothing inappropriate about placing images of party leaders on such socially beneficial efforts.

‘Distributing 5 lakh sanitary pads is just the beginning, and such welfare schemes should be taken up. We have placed the picture of Rahul Gandhi, but there is no reason for the BJP to get angry. Even on tobacco, there are images of celebrities in advertisements. And if, for such a good thing, we are putting up the picture of our leader, then what is the problem?’ Saikia said.

The Congress had earlier launched a sanitary pad distribution drive in Bihar. The boxes include pictures of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Commenting on the initiative, All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba said the decision followed a party-conducted survey, which revealed that many women in Bihar still rely on cloth during menstruation.

‘We conducted a survey in Bihar, and shocking figures came out that in today’s modern India, women and daughters of Bihar are using cloth during menstruation and are falling prey to serious diseases. Mahila Congress has taken the initiative to give free sanitary vending machines to our mothers, sisters, daughters of Bihar who are using cloth due to unemployment, inflation, poverty and are unable to buy it,’ Lamba said.

‘We installed machines, gave free training, free machines, free raw material to make 30,000 pads. And today, I am happy to say that the women of Bihar are making these pads; they are getting work and earning a living. We are going to distribute free sanitary pad boxes in the next 2 days,’ she added.

Earlier, former Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar after the upcoming assembly elections, it will implement Rajasthan's health model in the state.

Speaking at a press conference in Patna, Gehlot said, ‘The health model we have created in Rajasthan cannot be compared to any other in the entire country. We have also enacted the "Right to Health" law in Rajasthan, under which every family has been provided with insurance coverage. The Government of India’s Ayushman Bharat scheme benefits only a select few, whereas Rajasthan is the only state where we have provided coverage to the entire population of the state.’

The Bihar assembly elections are expected to be held later this year, likely in October or November. However, the Election Commission of India has yet to announce an official date.

(ANI)