Nirmala Sitharaman is only the second woman in India, after former PM Indira Gandhi (who was then also the premier then), to hold the defence portfolio and she soon found that soldiers were confused over how to address her. During her recent visits to border areas of the country, Sitharaman has been variously greeted with Jai Hind, memsaab; Jai Hind, sir; and Jai Hind, madam salutations. “Many soldiers Sitharaman interacted with were unsure of the most appropriate address for the minister. During informal interactions, some jawans even asked how they should address the minister. The minister said, ‘You can just call me Raksha Mantri please’,” an Army official said quoting Hindustan Times.
An army officer’s wife is called memsaab by troops and sir can be a generic term that covers women officers too. The 58-year-old Sitharaman is only the second woman to hold the defence portfolio. As prime minister, Indira Gandhi twice doubled up as the defence minister, in 1975 and in 1980-82.
Nirmala Sitharaman started her political career as a spokesperson of BJP under Ravi Shankar Prasad. Even though her husband and his family are pro-Congress, Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2006. In 2010, during the tenure of Nitin Gadkari, she was appointed as the spokesperson of the party.She was also appointed as the member of Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh in 2003. The seat was left vacant after the death of Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy. In 2014, she became the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
On November 5, Sitharaman visited a forward army post in Arunachal Pradesh to take stock of the defence preparedness and the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). On November 11, replying to China’s objection to her visit to the state. Sitharaman said that Arunachal Pradesh is Indian territory and the opinion of others on the issue is not a concern for India. Asked about China’s objection to her recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Minister said: “What is the problem? There is no problem here. It is our territory, we will go there.” “We are not concerned with someone else’s opinion on this,” she added.