Nirmala Sitharaman in no-trust vote debate: 'Jayalalithaa's saree was pulled in TN assembly… DMK MLAs laughed at her'

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday while attacking the Opposition’s remarks on the violence against women in Manipur recounted former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa’s incident where she was humiliated by DMK members.

Countering DMK leader Kanimozhi's remarks on crimes against women in India, Sitharaman said: “Women suffering anywhere, be it Manipur or Rajasthan or Delhi, we have to take it seriously, but there should be no politics over it.”

Recounting the March 1989 incident where Jayalalithaa's saree was pulled in the Tamil Nadu assembly, Sitharaman said the DMK members who were seated there, heckled her and laughed at Jayalalithaa.

“Jayalalithaa's saree was pulled in Tamil Nadu in the assembly. The DMK members who were seated there, heckled her and laughed at her... Has the DMK forgotten Jayalalithaa? You pulled her saree, you demeaned her. That day Jayalalithaa took an oath that she will never come to the House unless she becomes the CM. Two years later, she returned as the CM of Tamil Nadu,” Sithraman said during the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha against the NDA government.

 

 

"You are talking about Kaurava Sabha, you are talking about Droupadi, has DMK forgotten Jayalalithaa? Unbelievable," she further added.

It is to be noted that on March 25, 1989, Jayalalithaa, then Leader of the Opposition, was assaulted in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

During the debate, Sitharaman said India is in a unique position of being optimistic and positive about its future growth when the global economy is struggling with the twin challenges of high inflation and slow growth.  

She added that earlier governments used to sell dreams to people while the present regime is fulfilling the dreams.

“India was listed among five fragile economies of the world in 2013, but it has now become the fastest-growing economy in just nine years," she said.

Sitharaman also accused the previous UPA regime of wasting an entire decade (2004 to 2014) for slow economic activity.

"In 2022, there was only 3 per cent growth in the global economy. The World Bank has said in 2023, it will decline to 2.1 per cent," she said.  

Developed countries such as the US and the UK, and the Euro zone are facing challenging times, while big economies such as China are also facing their own issues related to consumer demand and wage stagnation, the finance minister said.

"In this background, look at the Indian economy from this perspective. In 2013, Morgan Stanley called India a fragile economy. The same Morgan Stanley has upgraded India," she said.

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