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Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he has the "highest regard" for President Droupadi Murmu, who is the youngest and the country's first President from the tribal community, in a letter to the Speaker, days after a major controversy erupted around the leader's "rashtrapatni" remark during a media interaction. He also called out Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani's "inappropriate behavior" towards Sonia Gandhi in his letter.

"I am writing this letter to clarify the air in this unnecessary and unwanted parliamentary deadlock regarding Hon'ble President Madam Smt. Droupadi Murmu. I have the highest regard for the Hon'ble Rashtrapati Madam Smt. Droupadi Murmu. I regret to say that this controversy erupted because of a mere slip of tongue on my part," Chowdhury said in his note.

Deepening the divide in Parliament, already rocked by noisy protests and repeated adjournments, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Congress president Sonia Gandhi faced off Thursday, prompting the BJP and Congress to hurl accusations of “intimidation” and “heckling” at each other in the wake of a remark by Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury regarding President Droupadi Murmu.

After a video clip of Chowdhury referring to Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni' did the rounds — he said it was “a slip of tongue” and he would apologise to the President because he “never meant to disrespect” her — the BJP, accused by the Opposition of “throttling democracy” by not allowing any discussion on GST rates and price rise, demanded that Sonia Gandhi, as chief of the Congress, apologise for her colleague's remark.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has expressed her inability to explain the transactions that facilitated the takeover of the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of National Herald and other party publications, by Young Indian in which she and son Rahul hold a controlling stake.

Sonia — who was questioned for six hours by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday in connection with the alleged money laundering case involving the acquisition of AJL and its assets worth Rs 800 crore by Young Indian — said that Motilal Vora, the late former party treasurer, alone knew about the details of the transactions between Congress, AJL and Young Indian, ED sources said.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will today (July 26, 2022) appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second round of questioning in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. In a probe that relates to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper, Gandhi was earlier questioned on July 21. 

In view of Sonia Gandhi's ED questioning, top Congress leaders have said that they will stage a peaceful protest in the national capital on Tuesday. However, their demand for permission to stage a 'Satyagrah' at Raj Ghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, has been turned down by the Delhi Police which also imposed prohibitory order under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the area.

President-elect Droupadi Murmu will take the oath of office of the highest constitutional post in the country on Monday.

The Union Home Ministry said the ceremony will be held at the central hall of Parliament on Monday where Chief Justice of India N V Ramana will administer the oath to her. The President will then deliver an address.

Before the ceremony, the outgoing President and the President-elect will arrive in Parliament in a ceremonial procession.