New Delhi: MPs of the ruling BJP on July 28 stormed parliament over the country's newly elected President Draupadi Murmu being called the "Rashtrapatni". Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Sonia Gandhi were asked to apologise on his behalf. Amidst the controversy, Sonia Gandhi defended Adhir Ranjan, saying that he has apologised. At the same time, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury got emotional while talking to the media about the derogatory statement about President Murmu and described Sonia Gandhi as his guardian.

Speaking to the media, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan said, "In Parliament, Union Minister Smriti Irani targeted me by taking my name. To which I sought time to respond, but I did not get a chance and the House was adjourned till noon. Later, I went to the Lok Sabha Speaker, pleading with him to allow me to respond to the allegations levelled against me.'' Adhir claimed that Sonia Gandhi also went to the Speaker and asked him to give him time to defend himself. He told the speaker that "Adhir should get an opportunity to respond". Adhir Ranjan said "It was a significant day in my parliamentary career, I felt I was not an orphan... Sonia Gandhi is my guardian.''

On the question of apology, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that there is no question of apologising to the hypocrites (BJP). I said clearly that it was a lapse, nothing else. I don't have much knowledge of Hindi, I am a Bengali-speaking person, and my tongue slipped. I had no wrong intention. However, Union Minister Piyush Goyal has claimed that Chowdhury had deliberately made indecent remarks to the President and called her the Rashtrapatni not once, but twice, the mistake could have happened once, but not twice.

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