FIR filed against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury post sexist 'Rashtrapatni' reference of President

A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against Leader of Congress Party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for referring to President Droupadi Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni' in Parliament. The case was registered in Madhya Pradesh.

"A complaint letter was presented by BJP workers against Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for making insulting remarks toward President Droupadi Mumu. FIR filed in the matter under IPC sec 153B, 505(2) and being sent to Delhi," Dindori ASP Jagannath Markan said.

The Congress leader made the remark on Murmu while talking to the media during his party's protests over a host of issues. After a row erupted over his comment and condemnation from Bharatiya Janata Party, Chowdhury said that referring to Murmu as 'rashtrapatni' was a "slip of the tongue".

He also accused the saffron party of making a "mountain out of a molehill" over the issue and asserted that he will apologise to President Murmu but not to "these pakhandis (hypocrites)". 

The Congress leader said he has sought time from the President on June 30 and will apologise to her if she has been offended by his inadvertent remarks.

'Deliberate sexist insult', alleges BJP

Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani said LoP used the term knowingly. "Chowdhury's comments were not a slip of tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult against the President," Sitharaman said.

The Lok Sabha also witnessed a faceoff between Sonia Gandhi and Smriti Irani over Chowdhury's remark, with Congress accusing BJP MPs of "heckling" the party chief while the saffron party accused Sonia of using threatening language.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) and 13 state women commissions have also issued a joint statement, saying the Congress leader's remark was "deeply insulting, sexist and constitute an attempt to humiliate the Hon'ble President".

BJP workers also held protests over the issue in some parts of the country, including Manipur's capital city Imphal.