'Insult to Odisha's daughter': Chaos in assembly over 'rashtrapatni' remark

Chaos reigned supreme in the Odisha assembly on Thursday as opposition BJP MLAs protested over Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remarks on President Droupadi Murmu. As soon as the House assembled, BJP members trooped into the Well and shouted slogans against the Congress after Chowdhury called Murmu "rashtrapatni".

Though Speaker BK Arukha urged the agitating MLAs to allow the House to proceed with the Question Hour, they did not pay any heed.

His assurance to the BJP MLAs that they would be allowed to raise the issue during the Zero Hour also did not yield any result.


Unable to run the House, the speaker adjourned the proceedings till 4 pm.

After the adjournment of the House, the BJP members staged a protest on the assembly premises and demanded an unconditional apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for Chowdhury's "unacceptable" remark against the president.

BJP's deputy leader in the assembly BC Sethi said, "The Congress does not know how to respect others and this is evident from Adhir Ranjan's statement."

Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi of BJP said, "The Congress has not only insulted the president of India, but also Odisha's daughter. Sonia Gandhi must take action against Adhir Ranjan immediately."

BJD MLA Raj Kishore Das from Murmu's Mayurbhanj district also condemned the Congress leader's remark.

Both BJD and Congress members were silent in the House when the BJP MLAs were protesting.