New Delhi: Following a political slugfest over his 'rashtrapatni' remark regarding President Droupadi Murmu, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday said that being a Bengali, he is not used to speaking in Hindi, adding that he made a mistake.
Chowdhury also said that he has sought time from the President and will apologise to her."I am a Bengali, not used to Hindi; I made a mistake, I agree: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on 'rashtrapatni' remark. Sought time from the President; will apologise to her but not to these 'pakhandis' (hypocrites), says Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury outside Parliament," he said.
Earlier in the day, Chowdhury said that if the President felt bad because of his remarks, he will personally meet her and apologise. "I can't even think of insulting the President. It was just a mistake. If the President felt bad, I will personally meet her and apologise. They can hang me if they want. I am ready to get punished but why is she (Sonia Gandhi) being dragged in this?" he said.
A war of words between the BJP and Congress over the issue has erupted. Heavyweight BJP leaders including Union Cabinet Ministers slammed the grand old party over the remark both inside and outside the Parliament.
Union minister 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, she told reporters. "A tribal woman from a poor family who created history is being continuously demeaned by the Congress," she told reporters. Chowdhury is the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha and used the remark while talking to the media during his party's protests over a host of issues.
Irani alleged that the Congress has been targeting her "maliciously" ever since the BJP-led NDA named Murmu its presidential candidate, and said she was called a "puppet" and a "symbol of evil" by its leaders. The attacks do not seem to stop even after her election to the highest constitutional office of the country, the BJP leader said.
Chowdhury's comment is also demeaning to the rich tribal legacy she represents and to the poor who rise through hard work. The President is called "Rashtrapati" in Hindi. Murmu, India's first tribal President, had led a life of struggle and represents the country's aspirations from panchayat to Parliament, Irani said and charged that the Congress under its president Sonia Gandhi has repeatedly targeted women.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanded an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the party's top leader in Lok Sabha, hurling a "deliberate sexist insult" by calling the President of India Droupadi Murmu "rashtrapatni".
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"Chowdhury's comments were not a slip of tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult against the President," Sitharaman said, making a brief statement in Rajya Sabha. She said at a time the entire country is rejoicing at the selection of a self-made woman from a tribal background as the President, "for the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha to call her 'rashtrapatni' in a 'pati-patni' (husband-wife) kind of a level, has insulted the President of India."
The finance minister, who just recovered from Covid-19 infection, demanded an apology from the Congress president. "I demand an apology from the president of the Congress party who herself is a woman," she said. Gandhi appointed Chowdhury as the leader in Lok Sabha to speak and he has insulted the President, she said." Sonia Gandhi should come before the nation and apologise to the Rashtrapati and also to the entire country for the insult by her own leader in Lok Sabha.
Chouwdhry's comments were not a "slip of the tongue but a deliberate ploy to insult" the President and it is unacceptable, she said. Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said nobody is supposed to make any derogatory comments against the President of India.
"Making such comments is bad," he said. "I don't know why it has happened and it is wrong." He said President was discussed even in the Constituent Assembly and Rashtrapati was a settled title to be used.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal also lashed out at Congress over the issue saying the entire country is upset over it. "The entire country today is upset over Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remark on the President. Congress has been insulting tribal leaders," Goyal, who is the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, told reporters. (with Agency inputs)
