Mahua to Carla: There’s always something about Marie – The Indian Express

She was an ill-fated figure whose name has become synonymous with aristocratic profligacy and pitiless indifference towards people. In modern political discourse, Marie Antoinette, who was the queen of France before the French Revolution and is known for having been overthrown by revolutionaries and publicly guillotined in 1793 following the abolition of the monarchy, is used by the media and politicians across the world to paint women public figures often, politicians themselves or high-profile politicians partners as cold-hearted.

Antoinette recently found mention in Indian politics in the aftermath of Mondays discussion on price rise in the Lok Sabha. As Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar rose to speak, her party colleague Mahua Moitra shifted her bag from the seat to the floor. The BJP noticed this, with party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claiming that Marie Antoinette Mahua Moitra was hiding her expensive bag.

The TMC MP responded in her inimitable style, citing the jholewala fakir remark that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made in 2016 to describe himself. Sharing a collage of her pictures holding bags, Moitra wrote the following day, Jholewala fakir in Parliament since 2019. Jhola leke aye the jhola leke chal padenge (Came with a bag, will leave with it).

Here is a look at a few instances when the name of the French queen, who was nicknamed Madame Deficit as she was blamed for the financial crisis France was going through, has been invoked to attack women public figures across the world:

Nirmala Sitharaman: Moitra is not the only Indian politician to have been referred to as Marie Antoinette. In 2019, when Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came under attack during a discussion on rising price of onions, she said that her family has little to do with onions. Referring to it, Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram of the Congress tweeted, Our own Marie Antoinette. Sitharamans office later issued a clarification, saying her comment was misconstrued and taken out of context.

Carrie Johnson: Then incumbent, and now caretaker, British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons wife Carrie was the subject of social media derision earlier this year as she was blamed for the Partygate scandal and dubbed Carrie Antoinette. Johnson and his wife were among those who were fined by the police for attending illegal parties at Downing Street during the pandemic. The first comparison between Carrie and King Louis XVIs consort appeared on social media in 2020 after the Johnsons refurbished their Downing Street flat. The British PM receives an annual grant of 30,000 (approximately, Rs 28.79 lakh at current exchange rate) to spend on his living quarters. But, according to the BBC, the work cost at least 112,000 (Rs 1.07 crore approximately). Antoinette herself was known for constantly renovating her palace Petit Trianon, which is located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles.

Michelle Obama: Even one of the most well-liked faces in the world did not escape comparisons with Antoinette. In 2010, she was compared to the profligate queen when she and her daughter took along a group of family friends on a vacation to Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Her office dismissed the criticism, pointing out that Obama was a private citizen who was on a private trip.

Nancy Pelosi: The US House Speaker, now in the news for her visit to Taiwan, is a much-reviled figure in American conservative and right-wing circles. She was equated with the decadent French queen in 2020 when, during an interview with a late-night talk show host during the lockdown, Pelosi showed off the ice cream in her refrigerator, saying, And we just restocked the ice cream for Easter Sunday because we were, shall we say, enjoying I dont know what I would have done without ice cream.

Carla Bruni: In 2008, the then French First Lady was branded the modern-day Marie Antoinette by news magazine Marianne as she prepared to release her third album. Ahead of a state visit to Britain, Christies auction house released nude photographs of Bruni and the French First Lady gave interviews in which she discussed her love life.

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Mahua to Carla: There's always something about Marie - The Indian Express