Facing flak over ‘rashtrapatni’ remark, Adhir says will apologise to President Murmu, not to ‘hypocrites’ | India News,The Indian Express
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remarks came after he held a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi in her office in Parliament over the issue.
Accepting his mistake of referring to President Droupadi Murmu as ‘rashtrapatni’, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Thursday said he will apologise to the President. He, however, hit out at the BJP, saying he will not apologise to “these pakhandis” (hypocrites).
While acknowledging his mistake, Chowdhury stated that he is a Bengali and is not used to Hindi. He further said the term was used only once by mistake and that he never intended any disrespect to the President.
“I inadvertently used the word ‘rashtrapatni’ just once and it was a slip of the tongue. I never meant any disrespect to the President,” he told reporters outside Parliament, a day after making the remark. “What should I do? I said it and realised I uttered a wrong word. I even looked for mediapersons to request them to not focus on it. However, I couldn’t find them.”
The clarification came as the BJP stalled both Houses of Parliament and asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to apologise to the nation.
The Congress leader also said that he has sought time from President Murmu on Saturday and will apologise to her if she has been offended by his inadvertent comments. Chowdhury also alleged that the BJP was making a “mountain out of a molehill” over the issue.
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