'Smriti Irani's way of taking President's name was not proper': Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to Lok Sabha Speaker

Hitting at Union Minister Smriti Irani, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary Friday said the minister was yelling ‘Droupadi Murmu’ repeatedly without prefixing Hon’ble President or Madame or Smt before the President’s name, adding that, this amounts to degrading stature of office of President.

“I demand that the way she was addressing President may be expunged,” he said in the letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

This comes hours after the Congress leader tendered a written apology to President Droupadi Murmu for his 'rashtrapatni' remark, a day after a political storm erupted over it.

“Smriti Irani behaved very inappropriately with Sonia Gandhi and used derogatory words. Sonia Gandhi was subjected to verbal assault and physical intimidation and the ruling party ended up creating a hostile environment for her in the House,” he further said.

He added, “I appeal to you that since Sonia Gandhi had nothing to do with this controversy, the entire episode mentioning her name may also be expunged.”

Talking to reporters during a protest at Vijay Chowk in Delhi on Wednesday, Chowdhury had used the word "rashtrapatni" for Murmu, which triggered a major political row, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raising the issue in Parliament and demanding an apology from him and the Congress president.

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