Bottled Water, Ice Creams in Sitharaman’s Clap-back at Chidambaram for Avocado Jibe

A day after creating an uproar with her ‘I don’t eat onions remark’, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back at Congress leader P Chidambaram for his criticism and reminded him of his own insensitive remark made in 2012.

“What was statement given by one of the finance ministers when in 2012 price rise was high…‘When urban middle class can buy a bottle of water for Rs 15 and ice cream for Rs 20, why do they make so much noise about price rise’,” she said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

“These are the people accusing me of being elitist, this government of being elitist. I condemn this approach,” she added.

Chidambaram, who was the home minister in the UPA-2 government then, had chided the urban middle class for bemoaning soaring prices of fuel and essential commodities.

Now the ruling BJP finds itself heading towards the same situation as the Congress did at the time. Inflation has crept up in the last few months, adding to the woes of a slowing economy.

This has reflected the most in the prices of onions, which have skyrocketed in the past couple of weeks. The kitchen staple is being sold for Rs 100 per kg in most places and prices even touched Rs 150-180 in some states due to supply shortage.

Yet during a debate on the issue of the price rise, Sitharaman made the tone-deaf remark that she or her family does not eat onions. "I don't eat a lot of onions and garlic, so don't worry. I come from a family that doesn't care much about onions and garlic," she had said on Wednesday.

The statement, which evoked laughter in the Parliament, had come after an MP had intervened and asked the FM if she eats onions while she was answering a question on price rise.

Yet, it had sparked backlash outside with many commenting on how out of touch the minister seemed with the needs of the common man. One of the other reasons why Sitharaman’s remark did not go down well with people is because onion is widely seen as the “poor man’s vegetable”.

The Congress also protested outside the Parliament building, demanding an apology. Chidambaram, who at a press conference slammed the Narendra Modi government’s handling of the economy, had singled out Sitharaman and asked if she doesn’t eat onions, does she eat avocados. The insinuation that she was elitist was clear.