PM Modi fled, asked woman to defend him: Rahul

JAIPUR: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi set off a controversy on Wednesday when he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running away from the debate on Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha and instead letting “a woman” — defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman — defend him in Parliament.

“The watchman with a 56-inch chest ran away and told a woman, Sitharaman ji — ‘Defend me. I won’t be able to defend myself, defend me’,” the Congress chief said at an election rally here.

The remark immediately set off a furore, with Gandhi facing flak across social media for a politically “incorrect” and “misogynist” comment. Modi said that the reference was an insult to all women in India and reflected poorly on the opposition leader.

Rahul resorting to misogyny, says Amit Shah

Hours after he sparked a controversy on Wednesday by accusing PM Modi of running away from the Rafale debate in Parliament and letting “a woman” — defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman — defend him, Rahul Gandhi sought to regain ground. He tweeted, “With all due respect Modi Ji, in our culture respect for women begins at home. Stop shaking. Be a man and answer my question: Did the Air Force and defence ministry object when you bypassed the original Rafale deal? Yes? Or No.”



Despite the attempt to hit back at the PM, the comment “be a man and answer my question” sparked off a fresh round of sparring on social media. The reactions were sharp with tweets asking the Congress chief to answer questions regarding allegations in the Augusta Westland and National Herald cases.



BJP chief Amit Shah responded, tweeting, “Defence Minister @nsitharaman’s outstanding speech in Parliament has silenced the opposition. Unable to counter her on facts, they’re resorting to misogyny. They owe an apology to India’s Nari Shakti.”



National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma tweeted to say: “What is Rahul Gandhi trying to imply with his misogynistic statement- “... ek mahila say kaha meri raksha kiijiye”? Does he think women are weak? The irony- calling an accomplished defence minister of the largest democracy a weak person.” NCW is likely to issue a show cause notice to the Congress president asking him to explain what his statement implied.



Social media was flooded with women taking strong exception to Congress chief statement. “My daughter is a Defence officer - she can protect any civilian male including @narendramodi @RahulGandhi ,Congress has insulted her strength by the patriarchal mocking of @nsitharaman and accusing Modi of hiding behind her,” reacted Nidhi Bahuguna on Twitter.



Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi did not respond to the reference to Sitharaman, but asked why the NCW was expressing outrage while ignoring the PM avoiding Parliament. “Such a sad state of affairs! Why is the defence minister of India reduced to being Defence Minister of PM Modi?”