Uproar in Parliament over Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's 'Rashtrapatni' remark
Vibha Sharma
New Delhi, July 28
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s “Rashtrapatni” remark against President Droupadi Murmu today snowballed into a major political row with the BJP accusing Congress president Sonia Gandhi of “sanctioning the humiliation of a self-made tribal woman”.
It was a mistake
I said Rashtrapatni by mistake. I am a Bengali. I am not used to Hindi. AR Chowdhury
Sonia targeted
A senior leader was heckled wolf pack-style when all she did was speak to another senior member. Mahua Moitra, TMC
NCW summons Adhir, asks Sonia to take action
The all-out attack by Union Minister Smriti Irani against Sonia in the Lok Sabha resulted in angry exchanges between the ruling and Opposition leaders inside and outside Parliament. There was also some unprecedented fracas in the House after the adjournment was announced.
As different versions emerged, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the “brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation of one of the most dignified ladies of Indian politics, Sonia Gandhi, by the BJP” was “traumatic and sickening”. “That this assault by the BJP MPs took place inside Parliament reflected mob mentality,” he alleged.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who led the charge in the Rajya Sabha, accused the Congress chief of “aggression”. “Some of our Lok Sabha MPs felt threatened when Sonia Gandhi came up to our senior leader Rama Devi to find out what was happening. When one of our members (Smriti Irani) approached her, she (Sonia Gandhi) said ‘you don’t talk to me’,” the FM said.
“Instead of remorse from the Congress leader, we find greater and greater aggression,” she later said.
Sitharaman also alleged that the remark was not a “slip of the tongue” as Chowdhury professed, but “a deliberate act to insult the President”.
In the Lok Sabha, Irani said: “The Congress is not able to digest that a girl of a poor family has become the President. A journalist even told the Congress leader that he was insulting the President. Then too, the latter did not express regret. The Congress is anti-tribal, anti-woman, anti-poor and now insults the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.”
Pointing towards Sonia, who was present in the House, Irani said: “Sonia Gandhi, apologise. You sanctioned the humiliation of Droupadi Murmu.”
As the protests led to an adjournment, Sonia approached the treasury benches to talk to Rama Devi to “discuss” why her name was being taken.
“Why is my name being taken? Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has already apologised. What is my fault?” Sonia is believed to have asked Rama Devi.
When Irani approached her, saying: “Ma’am, may I help you? I have taken your name in Parliament,” Sonia replied, “Don’t talk to me,” claimed eyewitnesses as MPs on both sides engaged in a war of words.
Blaming Sonia for what happened, Rama Devi claimed she spoke to Irani angrily, “wagging her finger”. “Sonia Gandhi’s angry tone started it all,” she said outside Parliament.
Congress MPs, however, said Sonia was only trying to reach out to ruling party leaders over the issue that they were raising.
Congress MP Jyotsna Mahant said while Sonia was trying to talk to Rama Devi, “other BJP MPs started creating a ruckus”. Mahant along with NCP’s Supriya Sule and some other women MPs escorted Sonia out. “Prime Minister Modi should apologise on behalf of the MPs,” the Congress said.
Accusing the BJP of making a mountain out of a molehill, Chowdhury claimed he used the remark once “inadvertently”. “I said it once by mistake… hang me if you want,” he said in a video message.
Dismissing the demand of apology, Chowdhury said he had sought time from President Murmu and would apologise to her, if need be, but not to “these pakhandis”.
