Shashi Tharoor Slams Smriti On Adhir's 'Rashtrapatni' Remark, Says 'Man Whose Hindi Is Like Me Made Mistake'

A large-scale uproar was triggered after Choudhary's remark by the Bharatiya Janata Party after which he tendered his apology to President Murmu and requested her to accept his apology.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday alleged that the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary was not allowed to speak in the House to offer his clarification over the 'rashtrapatni' remark he made in connection with President Droupadi Murmu, which the latter said was a "slip of tongue". "Before entering Parliament, Adhir said he made a mistake, it was a slip of tongue and he had no bad intention. But he wasn't allowed to speak. When someone seeks time before Question Hour, Speaker tells them to sit and that they'll get time during Zero Hour," Tharoor said, reported news agency ANI.  

Further, the Thiruvananthapuram MP alleged that during the same time when Smriti Irani started speaking, she was not stopped by anybody adding that Choudhary's microphone was turned off, against whom Irani was speaking.

"But when Smriti Irani started speaking, nobody stopped her. She spoke for 10 minutes. They should've allowed the person, whose name came up, to respond. We're not happy with what happened. Adhir tried to respond twice but his mic wasn't turned on. What can we say?" he said further. 

Later, Tharoor lightened the mood by saying that "let's move on, there are far graver issues in the country." 

"I think we should let the matter go. This is not an issue, it has nothing related to corruption or govt negligence. A man, whose Hindi is perhaps like mine, made a mistake. He accepted it, let's move on. There are far graver issues in the country," the Congress leader said, quoted the news agency. 

A large-scale uproar was triggered after Choudhary's remark by the Bharatiya Janata Party after which he tendered his apology to President Murmu and requested her to accept his apology.

mark. Chowdhury wrote a letter to President Murmu and requested her to accept his apology. "I am writing to express my regret for having mistakenly used an incorrect word to describe the position you hold," the letter read.

The senior Congress letter even reiterated that it was a slip of tongue. "I assure you that it was a slip of the tongue. I apologise and request you to accept the same," the letter read further.