Congress's Renuka Chowdhury to file defamation case against PM Modi over his 'Surpanakha' remark

Chowdhury, a former Union Minister, shared an 8-second clip of Modi speaking in Parliament in 2018

Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury on Thursday said that she will file a defamation case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly referring to her as ‘Surpanakha’ on the floor of the House during an address in 2018.

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Chowdhury, a former Union Minister, shared an 8-second clip of Modi speaking in Parliament and said, “This classless megalomaniac referred to me as Surpanakha on the floor of the house. I will file a defamation case against him. Let's see how fast courts will act now...”

In the clip, the prime minister could be heard telling the Rajya Sabha Chairman to let Chowdhury continue speaking as it was after a long time that he had got the ‘fortune’ of listening to such laughter after the days of Ramayana serial.

Chowdhury’s tweet came after a Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case over Gandhi’s ‘Modi surname’ remark. He was handed a two-year sentence before getting bail.

The sentence ignited a political row with the Opposition accusing the government of silencing its voice with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot even claiming that the courts were under pressure.

"Today there is pressure on Judiciary, pressure on Election Commissions, ED, Income Tax, CBI, which are premium agencies and their credibility used to be huge, are being misused. When such an atmosphere prevails, such rulings are made…every ruling is influenced,” Gehlot said.

Read | AAP, SP come out in support of Rahul Gandhi after jail sentence in defamation case

Opposition parties including Aam Aadmi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal, Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Nationalist Congress Party came out in support of Gandhi while Trinamool Congress, Janta Dal (United) remained silent.

BJP, meanwhile, welcomed the decision and attacked Congress. BJP senior spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Congress has an objection to the law of the land and they want complete freedom for Rahul Gandhi to utter abuses.