The Bharatiya Janata Party fielded three Union ministers, Kiren Rijiju, Sarbananda Sonowal and Bharati Pawar, at a presser held at the party’s national headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday, in which they condemned leader of the Congress legislative party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary’s reference to the President Droupadi Murmu as the “Rashtrapatni”.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “We strongly condemn the manner in which Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury addressed the President. We’ve been seeing Congress’ comments since the day she was nominated for the post. One Congress spox said “her selection represents the evil philosophy of India”.”
"When she has assumed office of the President, no further remarks should be made. Adhir Ranjan has hurt the dignity of the President with his remark. Not only he but the entire Congress party and its president Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation," he added.
Mr. Sonowal termed it an insult to tribal communities and tribal women in particular. "The comment of the Congress on the President of India is an insult to tribal women, tribals and the country's people, who believe in democracy. They should apologise to the people," he said.
Ms. Pawar said that the Congress was a repeat offender in this regard and had a mindset that was anti-tribal and anti-women. "I want to ask the Congress - do tribal communities in our country have no rights? We want to tell the Congress to be mindful of the respect of the President of India. For this incident, Congress president Sonia Gandhi should apologise," she said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chowdhary said that he had mistakenly used the term “Rashtrapatni” for President Murmu and that the ruling party was deliberately trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. “I inadvertently used the word ‘Rashtrapatni’ just once and it was a slip of the tongue. I never meant any disrespect to the President,” he told reporters outside Parliament.
He later said, "I am a Bengali and not used to Hindi. I made a mistake, I agree." The Congress leader said he has sought time from the President on Saturday and will apologise to her if she has been offended by his inadvertent comments. "I have sought time from the President and will apologise to her, but not to these 'pakhandis' (charlatans)," the Congress leader said, referring to the BJP.
