Union Tribal Affairs minister Arjun Munda slams TMC's Akhil Giri for remarks on President Draupadi Murmu

Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda condemned West Bengal Minister and TMC leader Akhil Giri on Saturday after his comments on the President went viral on social media. Taking into account Banerjee's own position as a female Chief Minister of a state, Munda highlighted the remark as reflecting Trinamool Congress's 'anti-Adivasi' stance, writes ETV Bharat's Anamika Ratna.

New Delhi: Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda condemned West Bengal Minister and TMC leader Akhil Giri on Saturday after his comments on the President went viral on social media.

Addressing a press conference Tribal Affairs said," hate comment on President Droupadi Murmu is strongly condemnable. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should immediately dismiss such a leader from her cabinet and should apologize in front of the nation for such comments. She should make a clarification."

He further said, " the West Bengal CM is female and a minister from her cabinet has made such a hate comment on our tribal President. This also affects our international identity... It clearly reflects that the WB govt will continue harassing Adivasi communities.They (TMC) cannot digest the fact that a tribal woman is now the President of India. BJP strongly condemns this. We will make sure he (TMC leader Akhil Giri) gets busted."

Major political parties in President Droupadi Murmu's home state Odisha Saturday came down heavily against West Bengal minister Akhil Giri and demanded stringent action against him for his derogatory comments against her. At least five FIRs were filed in different places of Odisha against Giri demanding strong action against him. Political parties lodged an FIR at Baripada, the district headquarter town of Mayurbhanj district from where Murmu hails, besides at Talsari in Balasore district, Sundargarh and Nayagarh. The BJP Tribal Morcha too filed an FIR at the Capital police station here.

BJP state general secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar said that any act of insult to the President is a punishable offence.The TMC leader should be removed as Minister and legal action should be initiated against him, she demanded. Veteran Congress leader and MLA Suresh Routray said every citizen is hurt by the remarks of Giri against the President, who is an honest and highly educated woman. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who hails from Odisha, took the opportunity to hit out against TMC supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is a strident critic of the saffron party, for the comment and said she should resign.

West Bengal Minister and TMC leader Akhil Giri on Saturday drew widespread criticism for making controversial remarks against President Droupadi Murmu reflecting that the level of political discourse has reached another low. After the video clip of his comments went viral, Giri apologised for making such a remark. In a 17-second video clip, the authenticity of which could not verify independently, Giri was heard commenting on the "looks of the President". "He ( Suvendu Adhikari) says I am not good-looking. We don't judge anyone by their appearance. We respect the office of the President (of India). But how does our President look?" Giri, the minister of state for Correctional Homes, was heard hitting out at Suvendu Adhikari in public at a rally in a village in Nandigram late on Friday evening.

The President hails from the Tribal community. She is the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President. However, the BJP lashed out at the Trinamool Congress and said Giri's remark reflected the "anti-tribal" mindset of the TMC. "President Droupadi Murmu hails from the tribal community. Akhil Giri made objectionable comments against the country's President."

"Akhil Giri, TMC Minister of Correctional Homes made objectionable comments about her in the presence of Shashi Panja, another minister from the women's welfare department Mamata Banerjee and TMC are anti-tribal. These comments reflect the anti-tribal mindset of the TMC party," BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.

The TMC said it doesn't support such a comment but won't take responsibility for remarks made by leaders in an individual capacity. "We don't want to comment on stray remarks by individuals. The party neither supports such remarks nor takes responsibility for such comments. We have immense respect for the President of the country," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said if a minister who has taken a pledge to preserve the ethos of the Constitution makes such a derogatory remark, then he must be sacked. "Mamata Banerjee should lead by example and expel such a leader from her party (TMC)," Bhatia said.

He said Giri's comments against Murmu, a woman as well as a scheduled tribe holding the highest Constitutional post of the country, has hurt the feelings of every Indian. Through his "indecent" comments, Giri has polluted and lowered the standards of politics in the country, Bhatia said.

West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said Giri's remark reflected the "anti-tribal" mindset of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). "President Droupadi Murmu hails from the tribal community. Akhil Giri made objectionable comments against the country's President. These comments reflect the anti-tribal mindset of the TMC party," Majumdar said.

Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP's National Information and Technology Department, co-in-charge West Bengal said in a tweet, "Akhil Giri, minister in Mamata Banerjee's cabinet, insults the President, says, We don't care about looks. But how does your President look? Mamata Banerjee has always been anti-Tribals, didn't support President Murmu for the office and now this. Shameful level of discourse."

This is not for the first time that the Opposition leader had made an objectionable remark against the President. Back in July, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had called President Murmu 'Rashtrapatni', which had created a political row. Another congress leader Udit Raj too invited trouble as he accused President Murmu of allegedly doing 'chamchagiri' while making controversial remarks about her back in October. Congress's Udit Raj too invited trouble as he accused the President of 'sycophancy'. However, both leaders later apologized for their remarks.