A day after a Court in Gujarat convicted Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname, Congress Leader Renuka Chowdhary is all set to file a case against Modi for his alleged ‘surpanaka’ remarks against her.
Former MP Renuka Chowdhury said in a tweet said that she would file a defamation case against the PM for the alleged ‘Surpnakha’ comment made in the parliament in 2018. “Let’s see how fast the court acts now, ” Renuka Chowdhary tweeted.
Tweeting a small clip from the five-year-old parliament proceeding, Chowdhury wrote: “This classless megalomaniac referred to me as Surpanakha on the floor of the house. I will file a defamation case against him. Let’s see how fast courts will act now.”
In the Rajya Sabha in 2018, as the Congress leader’s loud laughter angered then Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped him from admonishing Chowdhury and said: “Renuka ji ko kuch mat kahiye. Ramayan serial ke baad aisi hansi sunne ka saubhagya aaj jaake mila hain (Please don’t tell Renuka ji anything. After the Ramayan series, we got the privilege of hearing this kind of laughter today).”
However, Modi did not take the name of Surpanakha or any other character from the epic in his speech.
RENUKA CHOWDHURY
A member of the Indian National Congress, she represented the party in the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.
She entered politics in 1984 as a member of Telugu Desam Party. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms and Chief Whip of Telugu Desam Parliamentary party from 1986 to 1998. Chowdhury was also the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from 1997 to 1998 in the cabinet of H. D. Deve Gowda. She left Telugu Desam Party to join Congress party in 1998. In 1999 and 2004, she was elected to the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha respectively representing Khammam.
She has also served as the Union minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Women and Child Development and Tourism government from January 2006 to May 2009. She was also member of the Committee on Finance (1999–2000) and Committee on the Empowerment of Women (2000–2001
SURPANAKA
Shurpanakha (Literal meaning fingernails are like winnowing fans’). The character is also known as Meenakshi. She is a rakshasi (demoness) in Hindu Mythology. Her legends are mainly narrated in the epic Ramayana. She was the sister of Lanka’s king, Ravana. Shurpanakha’s role in the original epic is small, yet significant.
Shurpanakha’s appearance has drastic differences in the different versions of the epic. Most versions including the Valmiki’s Ramayana mention her to be an ugly woman.
