"Mamata Banerjee Must Apologise": BJP After Minister's Remark On President

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Locket Chatterjee on Sunday filed a complaint at the North Avenue police station against Trinamool Congress leader Akhil Giri who passed derogatory remarks on President Droupadi Murmu at a recent event.

Chatterjee has requested immediate action and FIR against Mr Giri under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Act.

According to her, Mamata Banerjee should suspend Mr Giri and apologize to President Murmu..

Speaking to reports after filing FIR, Chatterjee said, "Mamata Banerjee should give a statement. Akhil Giri is a minister in her government, she should sack him immediately. She should come to Delhi and apologize. They may say a lot about the SC-ST community in public but this is the actual sentiment of their ministers."

Akhil Giri made the remarks against the President of India on Friday while talking about West Bengal opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari following an incident of unrest in the BJP leader's Nandigram constituency over the Martyrs' Day event.

However, a day after facing strong criticism from the opposition as well as from his own party, West Bengal Minister and TMC leader Akhil Giri on Saturday apologized for his statement against the President of India Droupadi Murmu.

"He (Suvendu Adhikari) says I am not good-looking. How beautiful you are! We don't judge anyone by their appearance, we respect the office of the President of India. But how does our President look?" Giri had said while hitting out at Suvendu Adhikari.

A video of the same also went viral on social media on Friday.

In his apology on Saturday, Giri said that he was sorry and regretful about what he said, and still respects the Constitution and the post of the President of India.

"I said, President. Didn't take anyone's name. If the President of India feels insulted about it, then I am sorry and regret what I said," the TMC leader said in a statement.

Giri said that he does not regret BJP's reaction to his remarks.

"I don't regret how BJP will react to this. I am not concerned about BJP. My reaction was for Suvendu Adhikari," he claimed.

Several leaders from the BJP as well as from the TMC criticized Akhil Giri for his remarks. The BJP's West Bengal unit leaders alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government was 'anti-tribal'.

BJP MP Saumitra Khan also wrote to the National Commission of Women (NCW) and demanded the immediate arrest of Akhil Giri. "Giri's comment against the President of India Droupadi Murmu was an insult.

"This issue is not only related to women's respect; it also reflects their thinking. And this type of thinking cannot be left in society because it is harmful to society as well as the country. I request the commission to immediately arrest Akhil Giri for this heinous act and take appropriate action against him," Mr Khan said in his letter.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)