Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Indian National Congress’ Lok Sabha leader, irked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when he referred to recently-elected President of India, Droupadi Murmu, as the “Rashtrapatni”. The incident took place during a protest at Vijay Chowk, of which Chowdhury was a part.

The President of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee has since apologized for the gaffe in a video he posted on his Twitter account, where he said, “Whoever is the President of India, be it Brahmin, or Adivasi, the President is the President for us. Our respect is for the post”. Chowdhury further added, “Yesterday when we were at protesting at Vijay Chowk, reporters asked us where we wanted to go. I told them I want to visit the President’s house. Just one, I said “Rashtrapatni”…The reporter repeated it to me and I said I might have said that by mistake and it would be better if they didn’t broadcast it.”

When Congress’ interim President, Sonia Gandhi, was later asked about this incident by NDTV, the veteran politician said that her party member had already apologised.

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However, the BJP are not letting this incident go, with MP Smriti Irani claiming that by not apologising herself, Gandhi is sanctioning the humiliation meted out to “a woman at the highest constitutional office in the country”. Irani also labelled Gandhi as, “anti-Adivasi, anti-Dalit, and anti-woman”.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also lashed out at Gandhi, saying that this a blatant sexist abuse for which the latter must apologise. While speaking in the Lok Sabha today, Sitharaman said that being a woman, Gandhi should not have allowed a senior member of her party to use such language. This is what Sitharaman had to say:

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The BJP’s loud protests halted all activities in the Lok Sabha today, which resulted in BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal, who was chairing the session, adjourning proceedings for the day till 4 PM. Sonia Gandhi has reportedly called for an urgent meeting, which Chowdhury will also attend.