Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday with a sexist remark by comparing him to a “bride who pretends to work”.

“Modi ji is like a bride who makes less chapattis but makes noise with her bangles so that the neighbours know she is working,” ANI quoted him as saying in Indore. “This is what happened during Modi government.” Sidhu retweeted ANI’s quotes on his Twitter handle.

Sidhu also called Modi “liar-in-chief, divider-in-chief and business manager of Ambani and Adani”. He was referring to Time magazine’s latest cover, which described Modi as India’s “divider in chief”.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra criticised Sidhu and called out the Congress leader’s sexism. “With this one comment, Sidhu has shown the Congress party’s mentality and that the party is racist and sexist,” Patra said. “This is new India. Here women don’t just exist to make bread at home, but carry the country forward,” India Today quoted Patra as saying.

Patra claimed this was Rahul Gandhi’s thinking as well. He recalled that before the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017, Gandhi had said that former United States First Lady Michelle Obama would be surprised to find utensils engraved with the message “Made in Lucknow” when she is in the kitchen to prepare food. “He thinks even Michelle Obama is good enough just for making bread,” Patra said.

Patra also criticised Sidhu for another remark that he made in Indore, where he urged people to vote the “kaala angrez” or “black Britishers” out of power.

“Congress is the party that gave freedom to the country, it is the party of Maulana Azad and Mahatma Gandhi,” ANI quoted Sidhu as saying. “They got freedom from the British, now will give the people of Indore the freedom from ‘kaale angrez’. We free the country from these chors and chowkidars [thieves and watchmen].”

Patra said Sidhu called Modi and Hindustanis “kaala angrez”. “I want to ask you, Modi ji is kaala angrez and Sonia [Gandhi] is Hindustani?” he asked. “Where is the justice in this? So what if Modi ji is black, he has a heart, he is the protector of the poor.”

Responding to Time magazine’s article on Modi, Patra claimed the author, Aatish Taseer, was a Pakistani citizen. “What do you expect from Pakistan,” Patra said. “After two surgical strikes, after an air strike in Balakot, Pakistan’s mission is to malign Modi on the international platform.”

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