- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Indian National Congress leader Udit Raj on Wednesday (5) triggered a massive controversy by accusing the country’s president, Droupadi Murmu, of “chamchagiri” (bootlicking). In a tweet, Raj, who is a former member of the Indian parliament and was in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) between 2014 and 2019 when he joined the Congress, even went to the extent of saying that “no country should get a president like Droupadi Murmu”.
“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,” Raj, who is the national chairman of All India Unorganised Workers & Employees Congress, said in his post.
Murmu, who became the president after winning an election in July with the backing of the ruling party-led National Democratic Alliance, had said in a civic reception hosted by the state government of Gujarat in her honour that the western state produces 76 per cent of the entire country’s salt, adding on a lighter note that “the salt produced in Gujarat is consumed by all Indians”.
Gujarat is the home state of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Raj’s tweet on Murmu, who is India’s first tribal president, soon faced a massive backlash and he said in another tweet that his statement on the latter was his personal view and had nothing to do with his party.
“My statement as regard to Droupadi Murmuji is mine & nothing to do with Congress. Her candidature & campaign were in the name adivasi, it doesn’t mean she is no longer adivasi. My heart cries that when SC/ST reach to higher position, they ditch their communities & become mum,” he said.
द्रौपदी मुर्मू जी जैसा राष्ट्रपति किसी देश को न मिले। चमचागिरी की भी हद्द है । कहती हैं 70% लोग गुजरात का नमक खाते हैं । खुद नमक खाकर ज़िंदगी जिएँ तो पता लगेगा।
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) October 5, 2022
My statement as regard to Draupadi Murmuji is mine & nothing to do with Congress.Her candidature & campaign were in the name adivasi, it doesn’t mean she is no longer adivasi. My heart cries that when SC/ST reach to higher position, they ditch their communities & become mum.
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) October 6, 2022
The BJP slammed Raj over his remark saying it showed the Congress’s “anti-tribal mindset”. The party’s national spokesperson, Sambit Patra, said Raj’s choice of words on the president were “indecent, sad, and worrying”.
“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”.
Words used for President Murmu by Congress leader Udit Raj worrisome, unfortunate. This isn't the 1st time they've used such words. Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury did it too. This reflects their anti-tribal mindset: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Udit Raj's tweet pic.twitter.com/pWgi2L7zDA
— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2022
He also sought an apology from the grand-old party.
Another BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla also hit out at the Congress asking whether it endorsed such behaviour.
This is not the first time that the opposition party has been accused of insulting Murmu. Ajoy Kumar, one of the Congress leaders, had said before the presidential election that Murmu represented a “very evil mindset of India” and should not be made a “symbol of adivasi (tribals)”.
Another senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha or Lower House of the Indian parliament, called Murmu “rashtrapatni” instead of “rastrapati” (president) and was fiercely condemned for it.
After Ajoy Kumar called President Draupadi Murmu as evil & then Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary used the term “Rashtrapatni” now Congress stoops to a new low! Udit Raj uses unacceptable language for the 1st woman Adivasi President!
Does the Congress endorse this insult of Adviasi samaj pic.twitter.com/W0owoqxYHu
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 6, 2022
Poonawalla said the Congress would not condemn statements made by Raj since the “first family” (the Gandhis) applaud them. He also accused the “first family” of ensuring the defeat of India’s Dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar twice and that tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda would not get his due ever.
Accusing the Congress of harbouring “deep-seated hatred for Adivasis and Dalits”, Poonawalla 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.”
