On November 29, Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh Renuka Chowdhury questioned the media for calling out Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as he compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ravana. Without mentioning the ongoing controversy over Kharge’s statement, Renuka said, “Modi compared me to Surpanakha in parliament. Where was media then?”
Modi compared me to Surpanakha in parliament.
— Renuka Chowdhury (@RenukaCCongress) November 29, 2022
Where was media then?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks from February 2018
On February 7, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha. During his address, Congress MPs and other opposition parties’ leaders kept interrupting him, irking the then-Vice President and Chairman of the house, Venkaiah Naidu, who warned them not to indulge in unruly and unparliamentary behaviour. While he was warning the opposition leaders, Congress’s Renuka Chowdhury laughed hysterically, and her voice was distinctively heard from the background.
Former Vice President Naidu asked the PM to pause his address. He selectively named Chowdhury and warned her again. However, PM Modi showed his wittiness and asked the then-Chairman not to stop her from laughing. While comparing Chowdhury’s laugh with an unnamed character from Ramayana, he said, “Sabhapati Ji, meri aapko prarthana hai Renuka Ji ko aap Kuch mat kahiye. Ramayan serial ke baad aise hasi sunane ka aaj saubhagya mila hai. (Respected Chairman, I am requesting you not to say anything to Renuka Ji. We got the privilege to hear such laughter for the first time after the Ramayana serial.) It is noteworthy that PM did not say to whom he compared her laughter.
His remarks irked Congress and opposition leaders, and the so-called controversy continued for days afterwards. While the opposition leaders, their followers and a section of media questioned how PM could pass such remarks, BJP leaders counter-questioned why those voices were mum when PM Modi was being ridiculed repeatedly.
The post by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju
On the same day, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared a video from the now-deleted Facebook page “Narendra Modi – True Indian” that explicitly had Surpanakha’s scene from Ramayana followed by the clip of PM Modi’s remarks.
The video and the post were later deleted from Facebook. The same video is still available on some of the meme pages on Facebook.
Coming to a Twitter post by Kiren Rijiju on the matter, the post is still there, but the video does not have any reference to Surpanakha. Notably, Rijiju himself never compared Chowdhury with Surpanakha but only shared a video.
Despite such vexatious laugh by Renuka Chaudhary ji PM Narendra Modi ji didn’t get irritated. pic.twitter.com/pc5TGOYhZV
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 8, 2018
In a Twitter post, Rijiju said, “Despite such vexatious laugh by Renuka Chaudhary Ji PM Narendra Modi Ji didn’t get irritated.”
Statement by Mallikarjun Kharge
On November 29, newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made an offensive remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, equating him to the demon king Raavan.
Mallikarjun Kharge remarked at a public event in Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat that Modi has 100 heads since he is present in every election. “We see your face everywhere in corporation elections, MLA elections, and MP elections. Do you have 100 heads like Raavan?” Kharge said at a gathering in Ahmedabad’s Behrampura.
“I’ve been seeing that votes are sought in the name of Modiji, be it municipality elections, corporation elections (or Assembly elections)… Ask for a vote in the name of the candidate… is Modi going to come and work at the municipality? Is he going to help you in times of your need?” Kharge added.
Verdict: No, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not compare Renuka with Surpanakha. He only compared her laughter to an unnamed character from the serial Ramayana.
