Rafale row: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in parliament during the winter session
Highlights
- Nirmala Sitharaman's stinging retort to Congress during Rafale debate
- Abbreviations are a double-edged sword, she said
- On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi addressed Anil Ambani as "AA"
For every "AA" there is an "RV", Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today in a stinging retort to the Congress during her reply on the Rafale debate in parliament. No names were taken but the barb was fired straight at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, sitting across the floor of the Lok Sabha.
"For every AA there is not just an RV but a 'Q' also. Abbreviations for a joke can be easy for anybody... it's a double-edged sword, it can come back," said the minister. She added that RV was not the "damad (son-in-law)" of the PM but that of the country.
The ruling BJP has repeatedly targeted the Gandhis and the Congress over the alleged land deals of Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi.
On Wednesday during the Rafale debate, Rahul Gandhi, when asked not to mention Anil Ambani - the industrialist is not a member of parliament - shot back, "I can't say Anil Ambani? Is this a new rule not to take Anil Ambani's name in the house? Not even AA? Not even BJP member? Can I say Double A?"
He proceeded to address Anil Ambani as "AA" in the rest of his statement.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's acerbic, no-holds barred counter also starred an abbreviation.
"Was he playing the lap of one Q, about who in the Bofors case, the CEO had in his diary written - Q must be protected at all accounts," the Finance Minister questioned.
Q was a reference to Ottavio Quattrocci, an Italian businessman accused of acting as middleman in the Bofors scandal.
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