Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule courted controversy when she said on Thursday that parliamentarians often get bored listening to long speeches and discuss trivial subjects among themselves. The Baramati MP made the remarks while addressing a gathering of students in Nashik.
“If you see me talking to an MP from Chennai, you would think we were discussing the Chennai rains. But we don’t discuss anything like that. ‘Where did you get your sari? Where did I get my sari?’ We gossip about this. Don’t you gossip the same way?” she asked her audience and was met with loud applause and laughter from the students.
She also said that male MPs tease her, saying discussions would centre around beauty parlours, facials and saris if women were given 50% reservation in Parliament. Her statements, although spoken light-heartedly, could backfire in light of the recent inaction seen in the Parliament.
After her remarks were criticised by politicians from other parties, Sule said on Friday that she had been misquoted. "[It] wasn't [a] formal function. [It] was informal chit-chat with young students. We were joking around with each other," she told ANI.
Here's what she said at the event:
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