Rahul says Modi got ‘a woman’ to defend him

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “running away” from a debate on the Rafale jet deal in Parliament and getting “a woman” to defend him.

Modi retorted, saying the remark, referring to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was an “insult” to the women of the country.

In his first rally in Rajasthan after the Congress came to power, Rahul said, “The 56-inch chest chowkidaar ran away from the Lok Sabha and asked Sitharaman ji to defend him. But she also failed to defend him for two and a half hours.”

“I had asked a straight question — answer yes or no — but she couldn’t answer,” the Congress chief said at Vidhyadhar Nagar stadium of Jaipur, using the word ‘mahila’ for a woman in his speech in Hindi.

At his public meeting a few hours later in Agra, Modi tore into Rahul and heaped praise on Nirmala. He said those who “insult” women will have to “pay a very heavy price”.

“This woman, who shoulders the responsibility to protect the country, took the wind out of the Opposition leader’s (Rahul) sails... she exposed their lies... her rivals were so frustrated that they insulted her,” the prime minister said.

Mounting a fresh offensive against the Congress as well as the SP and the BSP at rallies in Solapur in Maharashtra and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Modi also called himself a chowkidar (watchman) who can pick a wrongdoer even in darkness in his fight against corruption.