BJP Demands For Apology From Sonia Gandhi; Congress Alleges Objectionable Slogan Against Its Party President

New Delhi: Outrage has erupted in the Parliament and across the political spectrum after Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury referred to President of India Droupadi Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni'. Union ministers Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman and other women BJP MPs demanded an apology by Chowdhury and from Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi.

Several senior BJP leaders echoed their shock and anger over the incident, and several BJP M.Ps and leaders held a press conference to express their anguish against the Congress party. Union minister and senior BJP leader Kiren Rijiju lashed out at Congress party saying that the party has been commenting since the day Murmu was nominated for the post and a party spokesperson 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," the union minister of law has said.

Adhir Ranjan, however, 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. The said remarks caused massive uproar in the Parliament as both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day.

Union Minister Sarbanand Sonowal and Bharati Pawar also expressed anguish over the Congress party and criticised not only Adhir Ranjan but Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well.

"The comment of Congress on the President of India is an insult to tribal women, tribals, and the country's people who believe in democracy. They should apologize to the people," Sonowal said at the BJP headquarters.

BJP leaders, in a joint media address at the party headquarters, termed Congress as an Anti-Tribal, Anti-Women party. Earlier in the day, the Union Minister of Women and Child Development held a press conference at her residence here in New Delhi and said that Draupadi Murmu has been targeted maliciously by the Congress party.

"Congress men have called her a puppet as a candidate. Congress men have called her a symbol of evil. The attacks do not stop against Murmu ji… Even after now she has been elected to the highest constitutional office of the country, a tribal lady from a poor family who created history in our country, is continuously demeaned by the Congress party," Irani has said.

She said that Adhir Ranjan was aware of his remark on India's President and that his remark demeans her constitutional post as well as the tribal legacy. She went on to state that the Congress M.P knew that "to demean the President in such a fashion was to demean the supreme commander of the armed forces."

While BJP has accused Congress party over the humiliating remark against President Murmu, Congress has hit back at BJP accusing them of heckling and intimidating Sonia Gandhi in the Parliament. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi alleged that objectionable slogans were raised against the party president.