"Called An Apple, An Apple": Mahua Moitra On Profanity In Parliament

A defiant Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress MP, on Wednesday, said she "stood by" using an expletive against the BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri in parliament amid calls for an apology and action against her.

"I've called an apple, an apple and I stand by it," she told reporters outside parliament, a day after controversy erupted over her comment.

"This is a gentleman who has called farmers 'pimps'. It is on record, I have tweeted the video. The Honourable Minister for Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri, in the Rajya Sabha, called Dr Shantanu Sen an absolutely offensive word," she said.

"This is not the first time that expletives or harsh words have been used in parliament, and what makes me laugh is that the BJP is saying 'Yeh mahila hokar kaise yeh word use ki'. Do I need to be a man to give it back as good as it gets?" Ms Moitra said.

During a discussion in parliament that saw the opposition target Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over allegations of fraud against the Adani Group on Tuesday, Ms Moitra reportedly got into a verbal fight with BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

Alleging that she was being heckled, and her speech was being intentionally disrupted, she used an expletive that was not taken on record because Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP K Ram Mohan Naidu was making his statement.

However, her comment triggered a huge uproar, with Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi later demanding an apology from the Trinamool Congress.

Among those who criticised the comment was BJP MP Hema Malini, who on Wednesday said, "They should control their tongue and not get over-excited and emotional. Each and every member of parliament is a respectable person."