You Pulled Jayalalithaa's Saree: FM Sitharaman Attacks DMK

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday countered the DMK by invoking the infamous incident involving former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Responding to DMK MP Kanimozhi's remarks on crimes against women, Sitharaman recalled the incident that occurred on March 25, 1989 where Jayalalithaa's saree was pulled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

"About women, stripping women, demeaning women, and shaming women, all of us will have to feel really very serious. Women suffering anywhere, Manipur, Delhi, or Rajasthan, we will have to take it seriously, (and there should be) no politics played on it," India Today quoted her as saying.

The Finance Minister, during his no-confidence motion speech, stated that Jayalalithaa was not a Chief Minister then and was the Leader of the Opposition party. "Jayalalithaa's saree was pulled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. She was a leader of Opposition and the DMK members who were seated there, heckled her and laughed at her," she said.

The Finance Minister stated that Jayalalithaa took an oath that she would return to the Assembly only after becoming the Chief Minister.

"She was a leader of the opposition. DMK members heckled, laughed at her. Jayalalitha took an oath that she will return to the assembly only after becoming the chief minister. And two years later, she did return as the chief minister," she said.

The Finance Minister attacked the DMK during her address in the Lok Sabha on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government.