Minister’s Rahul remarks draw ire
Choube said Congress leader is suffering from schizophrenia and demanded apology
Asenior member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet on Sunday created a major controversy by passing derogatory remarks against Congress president Rahul Gandhi, drawing strong protests from all major opposition parties.
Federal Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choube hit out at Gandhi for questioning the Rafale military aircraft deal sealed by the Modi government.
“How does Rahul Gandhi look? Like a typical gutter worm,” Choube told journalists in Bihar’s Sasaram town yesterday.
He accused Gandhi of suffering from schizophrenia and asked him to apologise for his comments towards the prime minister.
The minister’s remarks come as the Congress party has called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe the purchase of 36 Rafale jets from France.
The Congress reacted bitterly to Choube’s comments saying it was due to this kind of leadership that the minister remained in the Narendra Modi cabinet. It said the masses will teach a lesson to such people in the coming elections.
“The minister is apparently reacting because Rahul Gandhi is exposing the shady Rafale deal and the connivance between the prime minister and industrialist Anil Ambani,” said Bihar Congress chief Kaukab Qadari.
He said by passing such remarks against Gandhi in public, the minister himself has exposed his real character.
This is not the first time that Choube had triggered controversy.
Last year, the federal minister accused people from his home state of Bihar of crowding the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.