Insulting, sexist: NCW, 12 state commissions on minister’s ‘rashtrapatni’ comment

New Delhi: The National Commission for Women and 12 state commissions for women on Thursday criticised Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for calling President Droupadi Murmu ‘rashtrapatni’ and said the remark is deeply insulting and sexist.

The reference India’s first tribal president as ‘rashtrapatni’ has drawn a fresh battleline between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress. The BJP has demanded an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

“National Commission for Women and all the State Commissions for women who were present in quarterly meeting at Visakhapatnam condemned the derogatory and sexist remark made by @adhirrcinc against President of India. @ncwIndia is sending him summons,” NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said on Twitter.

The 12 state commissions include those from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, UP and Tripura, she said.

Sharma tagged a joint statement along with her post. “The National Commission for Women and all the State Commissions for women strongly condemn Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s (MP) words where he has called the Hon’ble President of India ‘rashtrapatni’”.

“His words are deeply insulting, sexist and constitute an attempt to humiliate the Hon’ble President. We call upon right-thinking persons to condemn his words in the strongest possible language,” the statement said.