E-Paper
‘If Gandhi family… why will leaders apologise’: Smriti Irani slams Cong over 'latke-jhatke' jibe
Congress leader Ajay Rai unleashed a personal attack on Smriti Irani, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from the erstwhile Congress pocketborough Amethi, saying she only visits the constituency to show her “latke-jhateke” and then goes away.
Amid massive backlash over senior Congress leaders' remarks on the Indian Army, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Union minister Smriti Irani, the BJP MP from Amethi on Tuesday took potshots at the Gandhi family asking if such a language is approved by it.
Reacting to Congress leader Ajay Rai's “latke-jhatke” jibe at her, Rahul Gandhi's "pitai" remark on the Indian Army and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's claim on the BJP's contribution to the country's freedom struggle, the Union women and child development minister said, “Why do the Congress leaders feel Gandhi family will be happy if they insult Indian Army, those fought for freedom, women leaders?... Many such remarks were made in the Gandhi family's presence. If the Gandhi family likes such a language, then why will leaders apologise.”
At a rally in Rajasthan on Monday, Kharge claimed that while the Congress stood for the country and helped attain Independence after its leaders gave supreme sacrifices, "not even a dog of the BJP was lost" for the country.
Earlier on Monday, Rai unleashed a personal attack on the Union minister, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from the erstwhile Congress pocket borough Amethi, saying she only visits the constituency to show her “latke-jhateke” and then goes away.
Also Read | ‘Why should I apologise?’ asks Congress leader over comment on Smriti Irani
Irani had hit back at Rai over the jibe, saying the party's “misogynistic goons” need a new speechwriter. Irani had wrested the Amethi seat from the Congress in the 2019 general election, defeating Rahul Gandhi.
In response to his statement, Irani sent out a tweet, challenging Rahul to fight from the Amethi constituency.
"Heard @RahulGandhi, you have announced to contest from Amethi in 2024 in an indecent manner from one of your provincial leaders. So can I be sure that you will be contesting from Amethi? You won't run away to another seat? You won't be afraid? PS: You & Mummy ji need to get your misogynistic goons a new speechwriter," she said in the tweet.
Amid anger over his comments, while speaking to news agency ANI, Rai on Tuesday asked: "I didn't intend to insult anyone. It's our colloquial language which means that somebody suddenly appears and says something and then disappears. It's not an unparliamentary language. So why should I apologise?"
Referring to the recent clash between the Indian and Chinese Army soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang, Rahul Gandhi, at a news conference last week, said, “Hamare jawan seema par pit rahe hain (our soldiers are being beaten at the border).”
On Monday, the opposition walked out of the Rajya Sabha after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected its demand for a debate on the Tawang clash.
