As Opposition leaders launched a scathing attack on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her remarks in Parliament saying that she belongs to a family that does not eat much of onion and garlic, the Minister’s Office on Thursday clarified saying that the particular remark is from a short clip of a speech and is shown out of context.
Uploading the full video of the minister’s reply on Thursday, the minister’s office said it is explaining in detail the steps taken by the government to control onion prices and rued that “a part of this video clip is being quoted out of context and is misleading.”
This move came after a full-blown political row erupted over the minister’s remarks, made during her reply to a question on whether she ate onions, the prices of which has shot up in the country.
Nirmala had said, "I belong to a family which does not eat onion and garlic."
While some of her ministerial colleagues tried to defend her remarks, asking what is wrong in her saying that she does not eat onion, Twitter is full outrage over the minister’s remarks with hashtag #OnionPrices trending.
“I am a vegetarian. I have never tasted an onion. So, how will a person like me know about the situation (market prices) of onions," Union Minister Ashwini Choubey said on Thursday.
However, the Opposition was having none of it. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said no one asked the Finance Minister what she eats, but people wanted to know why the economy was struggling.
CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said, “The only thing more alarming than this govt’s inability to control the price of onions is the callousness of Modi and his ministers. The PM is maun (silent), and his ministers cannot stop revealing their contempt for Indians by talking about their own diets."
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who released on bail from Tihar jail only yesterday, took at jibe asking her “What does she eat? Avocado? She doesn't eat onions.”
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla, who is close to the Congress held a solo protest at Vijay Chowk outside the Parliament Complex, over rising onion prices.
Chhattisgarh Congress leader T S Singhdeo was more acerbic. “We must thank our stars that Hon'ble Finance Minister drinks water or else the entire country would have been left thirsty,” he said, sarcastically adding that this “insensitive” statement from the Union Minister is a kick in the gut of the people suffering due to rising onion prices.