Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday apologised to President Droupadi Murmu and stated that he had mistakenly used an incorrect word to describe the post she held.
Sources said Mr. Chowdhury’s formal apology is a sign that the logjam in Parliament could end soon, and the Lok Sabha may take up the discussion on price rise on Monday and the Rajya Sabha a day later.
"I am writing to express my regret for having mistakenly used an incorrect word to describe the position you hold. I assure you that it was a slip of the tongue. I apologise and request you to accept the same," Mr. Chowdhury said in his letter to the President.
Separately, Mr. Chowdhury wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to allege that President Murmu was "unnecessarily dragged" into a controversy for political one-upmanship by the ruling party and complained that Union Minister Smriti Irani referred to the President inappropriately.
"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,"Mr. Chowdhury said in his letter.
He also urged Mr Birla to expunge all references to party chief Sonia Gandhi from the records of Lok Sabha as she has "nothing to do with this controversy".
On Wednesday, Mr. Chowdhury had used the word ‘Rashtrapatni’ for President Murmu while taking to a TV channel. The issue created a political storm, with the ruling BJP raising the issue in both House of Parliament and demanding an apology from him and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
“I am a Bengali and admit that don't know Hindi. I made a mistake and I will meet Rashtrapati ji and seek her forgiveness. I have sought time from her but I am not ready to apologise to do these [BJP] pakhandis charlatans," Mr. Chowdhury had said on Thursday, in his defence.
