The National Commission for Women has issued a notice to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his “misogynistic and unethical” remarks against Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Gandhi, while referring to Sitharaman’s speech in Parliament on the Rafale deal, had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a "woman" to defend him.

"The watchman with a 56-inch chest ran away and told a woman, Sitharaman ji, defend me. I won't be able to defend myself, defend me. For two and a half hours, the woman could not defend him. I had asked a straight question - answer yes or no - but she couldn't answer," Rahul said, using the Hindi word ‘mahila' for a woman, at a rally.

Criticising Gandhi’s remarks, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said he needs to respect women. “He should explain his statement and should have apologised... Nirmala Sitharaman is the defence minister of India... we did not expect such statements by the president of a party which gave India its first and only female PM. What did Gandhi mean when he said ‘be a man’?”

In a public meeting in Agra, Modi had reacted strongly to Gandhi's remark and called him sexist. "Our defence minister shut the opposition leaders in Parliament and exposed all their lies, so they have resorted to insulting her now. This is an insult to the women in the country," the PM said. He added that Sitharaman defended the Rafale deal strongly.

BJP chief Amit Shah has also hit out at Gandhi and demanded an apology. “Defence Minister @nsitharaman’s outstanding speech in Parliament has silenced the opposition. Unable to counter her on facts, they’re resorting to misogyny. They owe an apology to India’s Nari Shakti,” he tweeted.