Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for decades, often calls Modi a "thief" while the prime minister addresses him as "privileged dynast" in most of his public speeches. Some people said Sitharaman - the second woman to run the defence ministry after the late Indira Gandhi, a former prime minister and Rahul Gandhi's grandmother - deserved an apology. #BeAMan was one of the most trending hashtags on Twitter and some women posted their pictures holding placards that said: Mr Rahul Gandhi, real men don't insult women." Congress rejected the accusations of misogyny, saying Gandhi was a "progressive, inclusive and liberal leader" and that the party believed in gender equality. It added the reference to "woman" by Gandhi was an "innocent figure of speech."

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 10, 2019 12:45 UTC