Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi have often indulged in a war of words
Highlights
- Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "Government disrespected every Indian woman"
- Smriti Irani alleges Congress twiddling "its thumbs" on issue
- "It was PM who announced permanent commission for women": Ms Irani
Union Minister Smriti Irani delivered a withering response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday for his tweet on the Supreme Court's landmark ruling that women officers can get permanent commission in the armed forces and also will be eligible for command posts in the army.
Rahul Gandhi had tweeted: "The Govt disrespected every Indian woman, by arguing in the SC that women Army officers didn't deserve command posts or permanent service because they were inferior to men. I congratulate India's women for standing up & proving the BJP Govt wrong."
Smriti Irani, in a tweet aimed at Mr Gandhi, addressed him as "Begani shaadi mein Abdullah deewane". She accused the Congress government of "twiddling its thumbs" on the issue and asked Mr Gandhi to make his team check details before he tweets.
In its order, the Supreme Court rejected the government's argument of "physiological limitations and social norms" for denying women permanent commission and command postings, saying it was against the concept of equality and smacked of gender bias. It also said it found the centre's arguments "disturbing".
Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi have often sparred on Twitter. Ms Irani beat Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections from Congress bastion Amethi after losing to him earlier in the 2014 polls.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi had taken a swipe at the BJP government over increase in cooking gas prices with an old photo of Ms Irani protesting against the Congress-led UPA government over increase in prices of LPG cylinders.