The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Saturday slapped a show-cause notice on Congress leader Gurudas Kamat for his reportedly derogatory references to HRD Minister Smriti Irani.

NCW chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said Kamat has to explain his remarks within a week.

Kamat had reportedly referred to Irani as a person who mopped up the floor at a hotel in Mumbai since her family was not financially well-off and also questioned the minister’s credentials to have charge of the education portfolio.

“There is a buzz everywhere that an uneducated sister has been elevated to the position of the education minister of this country,” Kamat had said while campaigning of local body elections in Rajasthan.

Kamat also said Irani came from Delhi and resided in Mumbai. “The first job she got here was mopping the floor of a Mumbai restaurant. Nothing wrong in that, if a “chaiwala” can become the prime minister of the country, then why can’t a “poncha lagane wali” become a minister,” Kamat added, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s humble beginnings as a tea seller.

Rajasthan unit of the Congress issued a statement to clarify that Kamat had never degraded her work at a hotel, but had questioned her ability to lead the HRD Ministry. BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said he was pained to hear what Kamat had said about Irani.