New Delhi: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday slammed the Congress and demanded an apology for maliciously targeting President Droupadi Murmu and said the country knows that the opposition party is “anti-tribal, anti-Dalit and anti-women”.
The Union Minister’s remarks come after Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Adhir Chowdhury referred to President Droupadi Murmu as “Rashtrapatni”.
The Congress needs to apologise in Parliament and on the streets of India, Smriti Irani said.
Meanwhile, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said that he had used the term “Rashtrapatni” for President Murmu by mistake and that the ruling party was deliberately trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Union Minister Smriti Irani raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and cornered the Congress party and its president Sonia Gandhi.
- Sonia Gandhi, you sanctioned the humiliation of Droupadi Murmu. Sonia ji sanctioned humiliation of a woman in the highest constitutional post: Union minister Smriti Irani in Lok Sabha
- Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi told ANI that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury “has already apologised”.
- In Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi.
- In Lok Sabha Smriti Irani spoke on Adhir’s remarks and sought an apology from him and Sonia Gandhi. BJP members were on their feet supporting her.
- “Ever since the name of Droupadi Murmu has been announced as the candidate for the presidency of India. She has been targeted maliciously by the Congress party. Congressmen had termed her as a puppet candidate, Congressmen have called her a symbol of evil. Their attacks do not seem to stop against Droupadi Murmu ji even after she has now been elected to the highest constitutional office of the country,” said Smriti Irani addressing reporters here today before the Parliament began.
- The Union Minister lashed out at the opposition party, which said that despite being led by a woman leader Sonia Gandhi, Congressmen continue to demean women in constitutional posts.
- “The Congressman knew that to address the President of India in this way not only demeans her constitutional post but also the rich tribal legacy that she represents,” Smriti Irani said.
- The Union Minister alleged that Adhir Chowdhury knew that to demean the President of the country is to demean the potential of women in the country.