Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Thursday slammed Congress leader Udit Raj's remarks on President Droupadi Murmu and said that it showed the party's "anti-tribal mindset".
Udit Raj had accused President Murmu on Wednesday of allegedly doing 'chamchagiri' with his controversial remarks about her.
"No country should get a President like Droupadi Murmu ji. Chamchagiri also has its limits. She says 70 per cent of the people eat Gujarat's salt. She will get to know once she starts living by consuming salt only," Udit Raj said in his tweet in Hindi.
BJP's Sambit Patra said that the kind of words Udit Raj has used for the President are indecent, sad, and worrying.
He further said that it is not the first time that the Congress party has used such words for the President. Prior to this incident, we have heard the words Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has used for her, when a tribal woman has become the President of the country, he said.
"It is surprising and saddening how Congress is regularly using disrespectful words for the President of India who has struggled enough to reach the topmost position of the country and it shows their mentality," Patra said adding that it "exposes their anti-tribal mindset".
He further sought an apology from the party as to why they have such psychology for the country's first tribal president.
Udit Raj's remarks came days after President Murmu noted in a civic reception hosted by the Government of Gujarat in her honour in Gandhinagar on Monday that the state produces 76 per cent of the country's salt and on a lighter note said that "the salt produced in Gujarat is consumed by all Indians" (yah kaha jaa sakta hai ki sabhi deshwasi Gujarat kaa namak khate hain).
Meanwhile, BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla also took a jibe at the party and asked if the Congress party endorsed such behaviour.
Launching a scathing attack, Poonawalla said this was the real 'Chaal Charitra Chehara' of the Congress which has time and again insulted India's first woman Adivasi President.
Recounting how Congress leader Ajoy Kumar had labelled Murmu ji as one having an "evil mindset" and how Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary called her "Rashtrapatni", Poonawalla said that if the Congress was against this language of calling the highest constitutional post holder a "chamcha", would they sack Udit Raj? Would Rahul and Sonia Gandhi condemn this statement?"
Poonawalla further added, "it is unlikely that they would (condemn it) as such statements are applauded by the first family which ensured the defeat of Babasaheb Ambedkar twice and ensured that Bhagwan Birsa Munda never got his due."
He also accused Congress of having "deep-seated hatred for Adivasis and Dalits" and said, "Droupadi Murmu ji rose up through sheer hard work and commitment despite her challenging socio-economic circumstances and became a people's President but Congress cannot accept this."
( With inputs from ANI )
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