Press "Enter" to skip to content

‘Incompetent’: Rahul Gandhi attacks Nirmala Sitharaman for ‘I don’t eat onions’ remarks

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her remarks that she does not eat onions, calling her “incompetent.”

Ms Sitharaman on Thursday, while referring to the talk around rising onion prices in the country, said she does not consume much of onion-garlic herself, adding that she comes from a family which did not have to do much with the vegetable.

“I don’t eat much of onion-garlic, so don’t worry. I come from such a family which doesn’t have much to do with onion,” Sitharaman said while responding to interruptions by some opposition members at a time when she was speaking on the onion crisis. 

Reacting to her remarks, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi who is visiting his Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, said, “Finance Minister’s job is not to tell India what she eats. And the fact of the matter is she has no idea on what is going on. Basically she is incompetent. UPA believed in putting competent people in charge of the economy.”

“Everybody knows the state of the economy in India today. India’s biggest strength something that UPA built over 10-15 years has been destroyed. Finance Min of the country is asked about onion prices and she has that arrogance to answer that she doesn’t eat onion or garlic,” he added. 

Earlier, reacting to her remarks, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram, who was released from Delhi’s Tihar jail on Wednesday after 106 days in custody, asked, “So what does she eat? Does she eat avocado?”

Ms Sitharaman’s office has clarified that her comment has been taken out of context. 

“Here is the full video of Smt @nsitharaman explaining in detail the steps taken by the government to control onion prices and provide relief to the common man. A part of this video clip is being quoted out of context and is misleading,” the tweet read. 

Speaking in the Parliament, the Finance Minister addressed the crisis over rising onion prices in the country and said that the government was taking several measures to address this issue, including a ban on exports, supplying the produce from the surplus to deficit areas of the country, sorting out the structural issues regarding onion storage, and eliminating ‘middlemen’ in onion trade through the direct benefit transfer scheme.

Currently, onion is being sold at Rs 100 per kg in most of the Indian cities.

Onions were being sold in Kolkata at Rs 140 per kg on Wednesday. The vegetable has been selling for Rs 80-100 per kg in retail markets in Delhi-NCR.

The price has touched Rs 150 per kg in Hyderabad.

The opposition parties on Thursday also staged a protest over the rising onion prices in the Parliament premises. 

Source: dnaindia.com