Rashtrapatni Row: Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, calling on Union Minister Smriti Irani to issue an unconditional apology" for "yelling" the name "Droupadi Murmu" without using the prefix "President."
“She was yelling Droupadi Murmu repeatedly without prefixing Hon’ble President or Madam or Smt. before Hon’ble President’s name. This clearly amounts to degrading the dignity and stature of the Hon’ble President’s office," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in his letter to Lok Sabha speaker.
This move comes from the Congress MP right after he faced a massive backlash for calling the President "Rashtrapatni". The leader had, however, tendered an unconditional apology to the President.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had written a letter of apology to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, over his "Rashtrapatni" comment.
In his letter, the leader said: "I am writing to express my regret for having mistakenly used an innocent word to describe the position you hold. I assure you that it was a slip of the tongue."
Both the Houses of Parliament witnessed a fiery protest by the BJP over Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's "Rashtrapatni" remark for President Droupadi Murmu. While Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury maintained that he "regrets" his "slip of the tongue", Union minister Smriti Irani on the party lines demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi.
The BJP accused Congress of "demeaning" President Droupadi Murmu. Smriti Irani said, "Chowdhury used the term knowing well that it demeans Murmu and her office and is against India's values. Congress should apologise to the President and the country," "A tribal woman from a poor family who created history is being continuously demeaned by Congress," she added.
