Congress appeals Lok Sabha speaker to expunge Smriti Irani's remark on Prez Murmu

|HT|

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday appealed to Speaker Om Birla to expunge the remarks made by Union minister Smriti Irani in the House, alleging that the manner in which the BJP MP took the name of President Droupadi Murmu amounted to degrading the status of the president's office. In a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Chowdhury said that Irani was "yelling" the name of President Murmu "without prefixing Madame or Smt" during her address in the House. Chowdhury wrote, "I may also like to point out that the manner in which Smt. Smriti Irani was taking the name of Hon'ble Madam President in the House was not proper and in consonance with the status and position of the Hon'ble President. She was yelling 'Droupadi Murmu' repeatedly without prefixing Hon'ble President or Madame or Smt. before the Hon'ble President's name."

"This clearly amounts to degrading the stature of the office of the Hon'ble President. Therefore, I demand that the way Smt. Smriti Irani was addressing the Hon'ble President may be expunged from the proceedings of the House," he added.

He also appealed to Birla that since Sonia Gandhi had nothing to do with the controversy, the entire episode mentioning her name may also be expunged from the House proceedings. A political storm escalated on Thursday over Chowdhary's ‘rashtrapatni’ remark as Irani demanded an apology from Chowdhary as well as Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Irani had said the Congress should apologise in Parliament, and on the streets of India, to every citizen of India.

"Sonia Gandhi, you sanctioned the humiliation of Droupadi Murmu. Sonia ji sanctioned the humiliation of a woman in the highest constitutional post. Sonia ji sanctioned the humiliation of a poor woman who ascends to the highest Office in this country. You sanctioned the insult of every Indian citizen. You through your male Congress workers and leaders continue to demean the Office of the President of India. Apologise to the nation. Sonia Gandhi, apologise to the tribal, poor and woman of the country," said Union Minister Smriti Irani in Lok Sabha.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)