While the country suffers from high onion prices, Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman stated that she comes from a family that does not consume too much onion and garlic (video above).

NCP MP Supriya Sule had asked Sitharaman to elaborate on why the onion production in India has gone down.

The finance minister’s reply was construed as insensitive by many social media users and prompted the hashtag #SayItLikeNirmalaTai.

Sitharaman’s comment, however, was partly taken out of context. When she said that she does not come from a family that is big on the consumption of onion and garlic, she was actually replying to an interruption by another Parliamentarian who had asked her if she eats Egyptian onions. The statement does not appear to be a part of her official reply.

India has placed an order for 11,000 tonnes of onion to be imported from Turkey, news agency PTI reported on December 1. This is in addition to 6,090 tonnes of onion being imported from Egypt, the report added.

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