'Deliberate sexist insult', alleges BJP; Adhir says will apologise to Prez

New Delhi: The row over 'slip of tongue' by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by calling President Droupadi Murmu "Rashtrapatni" got murkier on Thursday as a face-off between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union minister Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha chamber added to the already raging controversy over Chowdhury's remarks referring to the President.

Accusing BJP MPs of subjecting Sonia Gandhi to "brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation", the Congress has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.

When the Lower House was adjourned, Gandhi turned to leave. At the same time, BJP women MPs were shouting "Sonia Gandhi maafi mango". Hearing this, Gandhi went up to talk to Rama Devi, a senior BJP MP and one of the presiding officers for the Lok Sabha.

Apparently, Gandhi asked why her name was being dragged into the controversy. She also wanted to convey that Chowdhury's remark was a slip of tongue and that he had already apologised. But, seeing Gandhi walking to the Treasury bench, Irani intervened, said Congress leaders.

When Gandhi approached them, the BJP women MPs who were standing around Irani started shouting slogans "maafi mango". Gandhi was seen saying something to Irani, who was then heard asking, "how can you talk to me like this and that she (Sonia Gandhi) is intimidating us," Congress sources said.

The situation became tense when some more BJP MPs, including Nishikant Dubey came to the front, and Congress MPs, including Gaurav Gogoi and Vishnu Prakash, went to shield Gandhi. An argument broke out. However, it was the intervention of Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi that avoided a clash between the two sides.

Trinamool Congress MPs Mahua Moitra and Aparupa Poddar and NCP's Supriya Sule were seen drawing Sonia Gandhi away from the shouting BJP members.

"You stand guilty of insulting the supreme commander of armed forces, you stand guilty of humiliating a tribal leader… The Congress party cannot stand the honour given to a tribal, it is not able to digest a poor tribal woman becoming the President of India," Irani said in the Lok Sabha even as MPs belonging to the BJP protested on the floor of the House. Taking on the Congress, both inside and outside Parliament, Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani said Chowdhury used the term knowing well that it demeans Murmu and her office and is against India's values. Both Houses also witnessed frequent adjournments due to protests by BJP members on the issue.

"Chowdhury's comments were not a slip of tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult against the President," Sitharaman said, making a brief statement in Rajya Sabha.

Meanwhile, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that he would apologise to the President but not to anyone else. "Rashtrapatni slipped out, that was my mistake. I am Bengali, not a Hindi-speaking person, so it slipped out. I never intended any insult to the country's highest post, not in my wildest dreams can I think of doing so," Chowdhury said.

"I have said not once, but 100 times that I made a mistake. What can I do? One can make a mistake. I am a Bengali, Hindi is not my mother tongue. I am not used to Hindi. If despite this our President is offended, then I will meet her and talk to her and explain it to her," he said, adding that "I can't speak Hindi, but that doesn't mean that I will deliberately insult someone or undermine them".

Accusing the BJP of making a "mountain out of a molehill" over the issue, he said he will apologise to President Murmu but not to "these pakhandis" (hypocrites).

The Congress leader said he has sought time from the President the day after Friday and will apologise to her if she has been offended by his inadvertent comments.

On the issue, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi alleged that objectionable slogans were raised against Sonia Gandhi.

"The BJP thought Sonia Gandhi would get scared and leave, but being the fearless leader she is, she went up to those women MPs and wanted to speak to them in a very dignified way but that was met with very abhorrent behaviour from BJP MPs and we saw that women and male MPs and ministers surrounded her and created an atmosphere where she could have been shoved and could have been hurt," Gogoi said.