Respect for women in the Indian culture begins at home, he said hours after Modi hit out at opposition leaders accusing them of "insulting" Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the first woman to occupy the post, and said the opposition parties will have to pay a price for it.

"With all due respect Modi Ji, in our culture respect for women begins at home. Stop shaking. Be a man and answer my question: Did the Air Force and Defence Ministry object when you bypassed the original Rafale deal? Yes? Or No?," Gandhi tweeted.

Addressing a public meeting in Agra, Modi had said that the country has seen how the opposition leaders tried to disrespect Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha when she was exposing their bundles of lies bit by bit, referring to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Rafale deal.

"They (opposition) were left so baffled that they are now bent on insulting a woman Defence Minister. This is not just an insult to the Defence Minister but an insult to women and women power in the country. Such irresponsible leaders will have to pay a price for it," Modi said