A Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh on Sunday claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party forced actor and party MP Hema Malini to put up classical dance performances across the country in order to garner votes for elections, ANI reported.

“It is the BJP’s misfortune that it has rough faces disliked by everyone within the party,” said state Public Works and Environment Minister Sajjan Kumar. “They have Hema Malini, who is made to perform classical dance across the country in an attempt to earn votes. They [BJP] don’t have good-looking faces.”

Kumar was reacting to BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya’s comments, who had allegedly compared Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to a “chocolatey” face. “The Congress does not have strong leaders to field in the Lok Sabha election,” Vijayvargiya had said. “That is why it wants to fight the polls through these chocolatey faces.”

“A Congress leader demands that Kareena Kapoor should be fielded from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. Sometimes, others talk about fielding Salman Khan from Indore,” Vijayvargiya had further stated. “Likewise, Priyanka [Gandhi Vadra] was also brought into active politics.”

Vadra was appointed to the post of general secretary for the Uttar Pradesh East region on January 23.

Vijayvargiya later clarified his comments and claimed he had used the term “chocolatey face” to refer to Bollywood actors, and not the Congress leader.

Kumar said that humans were created by god and people must praise each and every one. “It is not Priyanka’s fault if god has made her pretty,” he said. “By using such words for Priyanka, Vijayvargiya has lost respect and has disgraced his party.”

Several leaders have commented on Vadra’s abilities, physical appearance, and husband since her appointment to the Congress post.

Bihar minister Vinod Narayan Jha last week had dismissed her as a “beautiful face”.

“Votes cannot be won on [the] basis of beautiful faces,” he had said. “Moreover, she is the wife of Robert Vadra, who is accused of involvement in land scam and several corruption cases. She’s very beautiful, but other than that she holds no political achievement.”

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had also questioned Vadra’s abilities and claimed that her resemblance with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would not help the Congress in the elections.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Saturday claimed that Vadra was bipolar and would physically abuse people, which made her unfit to lead a public life.