Robert Vadra bats for waiters, flays Subramanian Swamy’s remarks

Robert Vadra on Saturday took a dig at Subramanian Swamy for his “derogatory” remarks about waiters and termed them “classist”, prompting the BJP MP to retort that he should concentrate on “staying out of jail” instead of making political comments.

Vadra, who is Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, earlier in the day attacked Swamy over his apparent swipe at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in which he had said ministers who wear a coat and tie look like waiters and must be instructed to wear Indian clothes.

In a Facebook post, Vadra said, “Under-mining waiters who work hard for a living; making condescending and derogatory remarks about them is deplorable and classist”. Swamy soon hit back. “Mr Vadra should concentrate on staying out of jail instead of making political comments,” he told reporters.

Under criticism over his “waiter” jibe, Swamy made tongue-in-cheek remarks in Thiruvananthapuram complimenting Jaitley for his “smart” looks and ticking off Robert Vadra, who spoke of the dignity of waiters.

He said he did not target anybody and what he only wanted was politicians should not look like waiters. “The attire comment was not against anybody. I only said politicians should not look like waiters. There is nothing wrong in it (to wear such attires). I said they should not be mistaken...thats all,” Swamy said in press conference in Thiru-vananthapuram.

“I did not aim anybody. Actually Mr Jaitley looks very smart in the attire. He looks like an exception,” he said.

Swamy also hit back at Robert Vadra, who criticised him for his “derogatory” remarks about waiters and termed them “classist”, saying Vadra was pained as his mother was a waitress in a restaurant in England.

“I can sense Vadra's pain. Because, his mother was a waitress. She was a waitress in a small restaurant in England and so he feels offended that I made fun of waiters,” he said.