# CJP’s Saurav Das hits back at Kiren Rijiju over ‘smash patriarchy’ jibe 2026-08-25T12:18:09+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das on Tuesday criticised Union minister Kiren Rijiju for framing Rahul Gandhi's 'smash the patriarchy' campaign as a Hindu-Muslim issue. Das said on X that the campaign was meant to address patriarchy and questioned why Rijiju was trying to communalise it. Das also referred to Rijiju's past comments denying student deaths during protests, and urged him to stop what he called 'anti-minority' politics and focus on education, healthcare and infrastructure. Rijiju had earlier accused Gandhi of targeting only Hindus while ignoring Muslim women, citing triple talaq. Gandhi made the remarks at a Pune event, slamming the 'Manusmriti mindset' and calling for an end to patriarchy. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The exchange highlights how the patriarchy debate is being pulled into the familiar Hindu-Muslim binary ahead of elections. Gandhi's invocation of Manusmriti is politically loaded: the text is often cited by both Hindutva and Dalit-rights speakers, but for opposite ends. Rijiju's counter uses triple talaq as a wedge to paint Congress as selectively feminist. Neither side is addressing the core question of legal reform on personal laws, which remains a politically untouchable subject for both the BJP and the Congress. The next flashpoint could come when Parliament reconvenes, where a similar clash is likely. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Leads with Das's attack, then reports Rijiju and Gandhi's statements in sequence with no editorial judgement. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Cockroach Janta Party, Kiren Rijiju, Manusmriti, Rahul Gandhi, Saurav Das Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/cjps-saurav-das-hits-back-at-kiren-rijiju-over-smash-patriarchy-jibe/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/cjps-saurav-das-hits-back-at-kiren-rijiju-over-smash-patriarchy-jibe/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/