Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter and senior Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule has created a huge controversy by saying that Parliamentarians gossip among themselves about sarees during debates in the House.
“When I go to Parliament, I hear the first speech, the second speech and third speech. Till the fourth speech, the one who is speaking is saying the same things the earlier speakers have said. If you ask me what was said, after the fourth speech, I am unable to do so. We speak to some other MP. While chatting with the MPs, everyone is watching, the TV above is watching. People think the MPs are discussing the country,” said the MP at an event organized by the Nashik-based Fravashi International Academy.
Sule said that people think that MPs are discussing important matters but in fact they discuss silly things when debates become repetitive, “If I am speaking to the MP from Chennai, you will say: Oh God, I may be discussing the heavy rains in Chennai. We don’t indulge in any such discussion. We discuss things like: from where did you buy your saree and from where did I get mine,” added Sule.
Speaking on the issue of Women’s reservation, Sule added, “All the male members in Parliament tease me that if an additional 50 per cent reservation is given to Women, then debates in Parliament will be only about sarees, facials and parlours. I have told them many times that you are the ones who make comments on sarees and have not done much welfare for the country. So it should not be a problem to given the proposal a chance.”
Even though Sule made the comments in a light-hearted manner, they did not go down well with people who expect parliamentarians to discuss important issues in the House.
After she came under attack, Sule claimed that she was misquoted.