Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who had stirred up a controversy by calling the newly elected President Droupadi Murmu “Rashtrapatni”, said that he found a "guardian" in Sonia Gandhi as she supported him in the Parliament when the BJP targeted him for the remark.
Although Chowdhury did defend the “Rashtrapatni” comment as a slip of tongue, the ruling party used it to create a fuss and distract people’s attention from important questions like back-breaking price-rise, he alleged.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Chowdhury defended himself saying: “I have the highest respect for women. My party chief is also a woman. How can I dishonour the highest constitutional post of our country, irrespective of whosoever is the occupant?”
Also read: Adhir writes to President Murmu, apologises for his 'rashtrapatni' remark
He went on to discuss the topic saying that during the Question Hour in Parliament, union minister Smriti Irani “hurled allegations” at him. “I was denied the opportunity to reply, and the House was adjourned until noon,” said Chowdhury.
He recounted the way things went down: “Later, I went to the Speaker, pleading with him to allow me to reply to the allegations raised against me. Sonia Gandhi, too, went to the Speaker. She told him that ‘Adhir should be given the opportunity to reply’. It is a red-letter day in my Parliamentary career. Today I felt I was not an orphan…I have a guardian in Sonia Gandhi.”
The controversy refused to fizzle out as Congress leaders accused the Bharatiya Janata Party MPs of “subjecting its president to brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation" in the Lok Sabha over the ‘Rashtrapatni’ row.”
As a result, the Congress MPs staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament on Friday, demanding an apology from the government.