‘This classless megalomaniac..’, Renuka Chowdhury to sue PM Modi over 'Shurpankha' remark

"This classless megalomaniac (Narendra Modi) referred to me as Surpanakha on the floor of the House. I will file a defamation case against him", Congress leader and former union minister, and ex-MP Renuka Chowdhury has said that she will file a defamation case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Chowdhury took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share a clip of the Prime Minister delivering a speech in the Rajya Sabha in 2018. The Congress leader alleged that PM Modi referred to her as the nose-less demon, Shurpanakha, from Valmiki's Ramayana, during this speech. 

According to the video shared by Renuka Chowdhury, PM Modi is seen saying,"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 request you to not say anything to Renuka ji. After Ramayan serial, got the opportunity to hear such laughter for the first time)," PM Modi said.

This comes on the helm of Congress leader and MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi being disqualified from the parliament. Rahul Gandhi has been convicted by a Surat court in criminal defamation case.

Renuka Chowdhury in retaliation to the consequences Rahul Gandhi is facing has said that she will also file a defamation case case against the Prime Minister. "Let's see how fast our courts act." she added.

Story of Shurpankha in Ramayana

The narrative of Shurpanakha has varied origin in the vast literature of India. However, the most noted narrative occurs in Ramayana. She was the sister of Lanka's king, Ravana, and the daughter of the sage Vishrava and the Rakshasi Kaikeshi.

While the way Shurpanakha is described in varied in various Ramayanas, in the one orally narrated by Valmiki, when Shurpanakha first sees Rama in the forest, Valmiki describes her as facially unpleasant, pot-bellied, wry-eyed, coppery-haired, ugly featured, brassy-voiced, deplorably oldish, a crooked talker, ill-mannered, uncouth and abominable. 

According to Valmiki, she met the exiled Prince Ram of Ayodhya, during one such visit to the Forest of Panchavati, and was instantly smitten by his youthful good looks. She adopted a beautiful form to entice him, but Ram meanwhile kindly rejected her advances, telling her that he was faithful to his wife Sita and thus would never take another wife. 

Rejected, Shurpanakha then approached his younger brother, Lakshmana, who said that he is only second to Ram and therefore not worthy of her. Infuriated by their dismissals, the humiliated and envious Surpanakha returned to her demonic form and attacked Sita, but was thwarted by Lakshman, who cut off her nose.

Shurpanakha row: What did PM Narendra Modi say in 2018?

According to archives, on 7 February, 2018, PM Modi who was delivering a speech in the Rajya Sabha, when then Congress MP Renuka Chowdhary laughed inviting a rebuke from then-chairman Venkaiah Naidu.

To the rebuttal from the then chairperson, PM Modi had remarked,"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 request you to not say anything to Renuka ji. After Ramayan serial, got the opportunity to hear such laughter for the first time)," PM Modi said.

Rahul Gandhi-PM Modi remark row

Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years of jail by the Surat court. However, this the decision has also been suspended for 30 days before which Rahul Gandhi will have to appeal against the court order.

The case was over a 13 April 2019, speech made by Gandhi in Kolar, Karnataka, during the campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections. During the speech, Rahul Gandhi had allegedly remarked “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”, according to the case.

The political slugfest over Rahul Gandhi and his disqualification as the Member of the Parliament has drawn flak from all over the world. While international media has also condemned the dismissal of the Opposition voice in the parliament in world's largest democracy.