Bhubaneswar, July 28: Odisha Assembly on Thursday witnessed an uproarious scene over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s controversial ‘Rashtrapatni’ remark against newly-elected President Droupadi Murmu.
As soon as the House assembled for the day at 10.30 a.m., BJP members, holding placards, trooped into the well and raised slogans against Chowdhury.
Speaker B.K. Arukha requested the BJP members to resume their seats and raise the issue during Zero Hour. However, the agitating BJP MLAs were in no mood to listen to the Speaker’s request. As a noisy situation prevailed in the house, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 4 p.m.
Following the adjournment, the BJP members led by chief whip in the House Mohan Charan Majhi staged a protest on the premises of the Assembly. The BJP members demanded unconditional apology from Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
“Congress national president Sonia Gandhi should admit the fault of her party leader and seek an apology,” said Majhi. The Congress should suspend or remove Chowdhury from the party as he tried to assassinate the character of the President, he demanded.
It is unfortunate to make such remarks on the President, who is at the top of Indian democracy, said Congress MLA C. S. Raazen Ekka.
“It is the duty and responsibility of all of us to protect the dignity of our President and country. He (Adhir Ranjan) should not have used such words against the President,” said Ekka.
Similarly, BJD member Rajkishore Das said it is sad that a political leader like Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has uttered such words against the President.
Making such a derogatory remark on the President amounts to insulting the nation, which is totally unacceptable, he said.
