Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury “made a mistake” when he called President Droupadi Murmu “Rashtrapatni”.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury recently sparked a controversy when he referred to the newly-appointed President of India Droupadi Murmu as “Rashtrapatni”, attracting flak from many BJP leaders for his “sexist” and “demeaning” remark.
Now, fellow Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stepped in to defend the remark made by Chowdhury, saying that the party leader “made a mistake” and that there are far greater issues in the country than to focus on one man’s statement.
While defending the “mistake” made by Chowdhury, Shashi Tharoor said, “A man, whose Hindi is perhaps like mine, made a mistake. He accepted it. Let's move on. There are far greater issues in the country.”
While speaking to reporters, Tharoor further said, “But when Smriti Irani started speaking, nobody stopped her. She spoke for 10 minutes. They should've allowed the person, whose name came up, to respond. We're not happy with what happened. Adhir tried to respond twice but his mic wasn't turned on. What can we say?”
A massive political row was triggered by the “Rashtrapatni” comment made by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, with BJP leaders accusing him of being disrespectful towards President Droupadi Murmu, who is the first tribal president of the country.
Union Minister Smriti Irani had also raised the issue in Lok Sabha, demanding an apology from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for the remarks made against President Murmu. The confrontation between Irani and Gandhi in the Parliament was nothing short of dramatic.
Meanwhile, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury issued a public apology soon after his statement, saying that the “Rashtrapatni” comment was a slip of tongue. In an apology letter, the Congress leader said that he regretted using the incorrect word to describe the position held by President Droupadi Murmu.
In the letter, Chowdhury wrote, “I am writing to express my regret for having mistakenly used an incorrect word to describe the position you hold. I assure you that it was a slip of tongue. I apologise and request you to accept the same.”
Chowdhury also wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, where he complained about Smriti Irani for yelling out the name of President Droupadi Murmu “without prefixing Madame or Smt".
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 "Rashtrapatni remark row: Shashi Tharoor defends Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, says ‘his Hindi is like mine’")
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