After a heated exchange between Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani and Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary, the latter has still not let go of the fight.
Choudhary earlier in a tweet had referred to Irani as ‘Dear’ Smriti Irani ji. Irani shot back, asking Choudhary since when he began addressing women as ‘dear’.
On Wednesday, Choudhary was on a mission to prove he wasn’t inappropriate in addressing her as ‘dear’. He cited several references from the past to drive home his point.
Choudhary retweeted a letter written by Union Minister for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya to Irani using ‘dear’, and accused her of ‘double standards’ on this account.
Choudhary, who is also Bihar Congress President, referred to a past tweet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejaswi Yadav also sided with Choudhary and gave a casteist angle to the controversy by saying “Can’t a Dalit use ‘dear’?”
The Congress workers joined the bandwagon on Wednesday and addressed the Minister as “Dear Ashok Choudhary ji” when he visited the party headquarters, Sadaquat Ashram, in Patna.
Irani wasn’t taking this lying down, however. Perhaps feeling restricted by Twitter’s 140 characters, Irani on Thursday decided to pour her outrage out in a rather lengthy Facebook post. In response to what she sees as an act of a woman in office being bullied, Irani listed out her achievements in office (the accountability of which should probably be taken with a pinch of salt.)
In the past, Irani has made effective use of rhetoric to make emotionally powerful speeches. Her speech in Parliament about the Rohith Vemula suicide sparked many reactions.
(With inputs from PTI)
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