Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury apologises for comment against Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Leader of Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday (December 4) apologised in the House for his remark against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Chowdhury said, "during a discussion in the House I had addressed our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as Nirbala. Nirmala ji is like my sister and I am like her brother. If my words have hurt her then I am sorry."

On Monday, Chowdhury took a dig at Nirmala Sitharaman and used the term `Nirbala` (powerless) to address her. He said, "We do have a lot of respect for you, but sometimes we wonder if it wouldn`t be more apt to address you as `Nirbala` Sitharaman instead of Nirmala Sitharaman. She heads the Finance Ministry, but we do not know whether you are even able to speak your mind or not."

Chowdhury made this remark when the Finance Minister was responding to a debate on reducing the corporate tax in the country.