By Our Special Correspondent
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, who called the 'Rashtrapatni' remark a "slip of the tongue", said on Thursday that he would apologize to President Draupadi Murmu but not to "these pakhandilas" (hypocrites).
He accused the BJP of "making a mountain out of a hill" on the issue. Choudhary said he never meant to disrespect the President, even though he used the word by mistake only once and asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to apologize to the country after the BJP suspended both houses of Parliament.
"I accidentally used the word 'President' once and it was a slip of the tongue. I never meant to disrespect the President," he told reporters outside Parliament. "What should I do? I said and realized I had said the wrong thing. I looked for media persons to request them not to focus on it. However, I couldn't find them," Chaudhary commented.
Later he said, "I am a Bengali, I am not familiar with Hindi. I made a mistake and I accept it." The Congress leader said that he has sought time from the President the day after tomorrow and will apologize to the President if she was hurt by his ill-advised remarks. "I have sought time from the President and will apologize to her, but not to these 'Pakhandis'," the Congress leader said while addressing the BJP.
Chaudhary made these comments after a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her office in Parliament.
Chaudhary alleged that some members of the ruling party are deliberately trying to turn a hill into a hill. Later, in a video message, he said that the President of India will be respected by all, whether he is a Brahmin or a tribal. “Yesterday, when we were protesting at Vijay Chowk, journalists asked where we wanted to go.
I said 'Rashtrapatni' once by mistake. I asked journalists not to show my video where I went wrong. He said, "BJP is now creating scandal over it. According to Chaudhary, BJP has nothing against Congress and is inventing 'masala' against it.
"This matter is coming out... I have no remote intention to insult the highest seat of our country," Chaudhary said.
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