Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman insulted back at home

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman insulted back at home

NEW DELHI - Indian defence minister has been insulted at home by Congress, media has reported.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said the prime minister got a 'woman' to defend him in Parliament as he couldn't do so himself, a remark that appeared to trigger a sharp retort from Narendra Modi who accused the opposition of insulting Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Calling Modi a prime minister who claimed to have a broad chest, Gandhi said, the prime minister had "run away" from debate in Parliament on the defence deal.

"The watchman with a 56-inch chest ran away and told a woman, Sitharaman ji, defend me. I won't be able to defend myself, defend me," he said at a farmers' rally in Jaipur.

"For two and a half hours, the woman could not defend him. I had asked a straight question " answer yes or no " but she couldn't answer," the Congress chief said, using the word "mahila' for a woman in his speech in Hindi.