Rahul Gandhi Targets Sitharaman for Onion Remark; Makes Faux Pas

As the finance minister rose to speak in Lok Sabha, an MP asked her if she ate Egyptian onions or not.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a public meeting in Wayanad, made a misleading comment on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s onion remark.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Addressing a public meeting in Kerala’s Wayanad on Thursday, 5 December, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her onion remark. The finance minister faced flak from netizens and opposition leaders for the same statement.

Mocking her, Gandhi said that Sitharaman was asked about onion prices, and she is stating her dietary preference.

“The finance minister is asked about the price of onions and she answers, I do not eat garlic or onions. Nobody is asking you whether you eat garlic or onions, you are the finance minister of India, they are asking you why the Indian economy is not working, and the answer is very simple, you don’t believe in listening to the people of India.”

Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP

Gandhi can be heard making the comment at 15:30 minutes in the video below.

Why Did Sitharaman State Her Food Preference?

The remark ‘main itna lehsun, pyaaz nahi khati hoon ji.....’ has garnered a lot of criticism with the Opposition leaders lashing out at Nirmala Sitharaman for evading the question on the surging prices.

But Sitharaman was actually responding to a minister while she made this remark. 

On Wednesday, NCP MP Supriya Sule questioned the finance minister about the prices on onion and why the production has gone down. But before Sitharaman could answer Sule’s question, another MP interjected and asked the minister whether she eats Egyptian onions to which Sitharaman responded, “Main itna lehsun, pyaaz nahi khati hoon ji, so don’t worry. Main aise pariwar se aati hoon jaha onion, pyaaz se matlab nahi rakhte hain.”

(Translation: I don’t eat a lot of onions and garlic, so don’t worry. I come from a family which is not so bothered about onions and garlic that much.)

Sitharaman then goes on to respond to Sule and enlists all the measures undertaken by the government to tackle the onion pricing and production.

“I must say, from 2014, I have also been part of some of the group of ministers, which monitored the ups and downs in onion markets. Sometimes, when there was surplus of crops, we have also facilitated by giving support to those people who want to export it. I have overnight passed orders for helping with 5-7 per cent assistance for exporting onions” she said.

However, Rahul Gandhi extrapolated a small chunk from Sitharaman’s answer and claimed that the minister wasn’t asked about what she eats and that she should be concentrating on the economy.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on Whatsapp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)