Mimi Chakraborty posted photographs taken with Nusrat Jahan in front of Parliament on Twitter.
Days after newly elected Trinamool Congress lawmakers Mimi Chakraborty and Nusraj Jahan were trolled on social media for coming to Parliament dressed in "western clothes", the former today took to Twitter to wonder if her critics weren't being a little sexist by not subjecting cricketer-turned-BJP parliamentarian Gautam Gambhir to similar scrutiny for also turning up in casual wear.
She made the observation after journalist Swati Chaturvedi raised the issue on Twitter, asking: "Has the fashion police attacked Gambhir yet? Or only for the women? I think @GautamGambhir is looking great."
She was referring to a photo-tweet by Gautam Gambhir that showed him posing in front of the parliament complex in a t-shirt and jeans, holding up his identity card. The former cricketer was elected to the Lok Sabha from East Delhi in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
"No they didn't ma'am its only bcoz we r women probably but @GautamGambhir looks great," Mimi Chakraborty tweeted in response to Swati Chaturvedi.
Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan, both popular Bengali actresses, were elected to the lower house from West Bengal's Jadavpur and Basirhat constituencies. Upon visiting Parliament for the first time on Monday, they posed in front of the imposing structure and posted the photographs on Twitter. "And it's us again. First day at Parliament (with) Nusrat Jahan," Mimi Chakraborty said in one of the tweets, tagging her fellow-parliamentarian.
The post did not go down well with a certain section of netizens, who said they were not "appropriately dressed" for the occasion. While one of them commented that the "Parliament is not a photo studio", another concluded that Mimi Chakraborty is "not suitable for the position". Yet others claimed that elected representatives are required to come to Parliament in traditional wear.
There were many who came out in their support as well. Among those on their side was Yashwant Deshmukh, the founder of polling agency CVoter.
"Even I just can't unsee this. Absolutely classy, adorable, fresh, young, dynamic next-gen leadership that India has got. She represents her generation. And she must wear this identity proudly on her sleeves," he tweeted.
The lawmakers had pulled off an impressive victory in their seats despite being new to politics. While Mimi Chakraborty (30) won from Jadavpur by over almost 3 lakh votes, Nusrat Jahan (29) defeated her closest rival in Basirhat by over 3.5 lakh votes. Trinamool Congress had won both the seats by a margin of less than 1,30,000 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.