Barabanki (UP): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav gave a sharp retort to questions on why the brother-in-law of a woman sarpanch was representing her, media reports said.

Akhilesh Yadav trivialized the issue saying that it was not uncommon for male relatives to take the place of elected women representatives and threw a counter question at the reporters: "Why are all of you (reporters) male?" NDTV reported.

The event was being held at the Belhara panchayat area in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district.

Shabana Khatun, the organizer and local sarpanch, was conspicuous by her absence. Not only that, there was no trace of her name at the event. All the hoardings and posters had her brother-in-law Ayaz Khan’s name, the man who was present in her place at the event. What’s more his photograph on the posters had "chairman" written next to him, the report said.

Belhara panchayat seat is reserved for women. Shabana Khatun was elected from the seat in the last panchayat elections but local residents say she never attended any official event.

The residents say that all decisions are made by her brother-in-law and Shabana Khatun merely signs the documents, which are sent to her home.

According to the report, when a group of reporters questioned Yadav how a male relative representing a woman sarpanch can reinforce a message of women empowerment. "Is this anything new? So many pradhanpatis (husbands of pradhans) are here. If this even a topic? Now, if I ask, why are all of you (reporters) male?" Yadav replied, which was endorsed by his supporters with cheers.

He then asked a reporter if there was no female reporter in his channel available to attend the event. With a smile, Yadav suggested, "Choose someone else then; I'm just responding to your query."