New Delhi: A day after defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman's spat with Karnataka minister Sa Ra Mahesh in Kodagu, the defence ministry on Saturday said that it was unfortunate the way he behaved and described some of his subsequent personal remarks against her as in bad taste.
On a visit to the flood-affected areas in the district, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday sparred with Karnataka district-in-charge minister Sa Ra Mahesh after he asked her to end a press conference they were jointly addressing.
The episode took place after Mahesh asked Sitharaman to end the press conference citing lack of time and she retorted saying that she was following "minute-by-minute" the itinerary prepared by the district administration and she cannot be blamed for the delay.
"And the mic is on na... so record whatever you want," she was heard telling the media.
Sitharaman then asked a woman official to stop speaking and said "let the in-charge minister speak."
"Minute to minute programme, minister... I am following that and if officials were important then my family is also very important. A central minister is following the minister in-charge. Unbelievable," she said.
In an official clarification, the Defence Ministry referred to media reports that she got angry with Mahesh during the flood review meeting with the Kodagu district administrator and said Mahesh's remark lowered the dignity of the Rajya Sabha which showed utter lack of regard and knowledge about Indian polity.
Sitharaman said the programme for the flood affected areas was finalised by the district administration in consultation with the public representatives. It was approved and circulated to all concerned two days before her arrival. Subsequently on the request of the district administrator an interaction with ex-army veterans was added to the schedule.
The defence minister said on completion of the field visit as per the programme, she was interacting with the ex-servicemen who were affected by the floods when Mahesh objected and insisted that the meeting of the officials must be conducted first.
She clarified that welfare of the ex-servicemen was an essential part of the defence ministry and the same was scheduled in the programme. However, the district administration insisted that she immediately stop the interaction and proceed to the meeting with the officials.
"While it was extremely unfortunate, in order to avoid the situation from deteriorating, defence minister immediately halted the meeting and proceeded to the venue of the meeting with the officials. The venue was already set up for the press conference and hurriedly the officials were summoned to sit among the mediapersons for the review. It was unprecedented to hold a meeting with the officials, with all mediapersons present," the clarification said.
It said she then heard the grievances of the waiting ex-servicemen. In spite of the district administration finalising the programme and the defence minister following the same in its entirety, it was unfortunate that the minister behaved the way he did.
"Subsequently, the personal remarks against the defence minister were also in bad taste, which did not merit a response."
The ministry also said there has been gross misinterpretation with regard to the use of the term 'parivar' by the defence minister during the press conference. It maintained that one of the four departments of the defence ministry is the department of the ex-servicemen welfare and in that context it was stated that all ex-servicemen were part of the ministry of defence parivar.
"Any other inference is misconstrued and uncalled for," she said.
