Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly criticised Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her “poor thing” comment on President Droupadi Murmu, hours after the Rashtrapati Bhavan also termed the comments on the President’s address to parliament as “unfortunate and entirely avoidable” and “in poor taste”.
After the President’s address to a joint sitting of parliament at the beginning of the budget session, Sonia Gandhi described President Murmu, 66, as a “poor thing” because, according to the Congress leader, the President appeared exhausted after the long, customary speech.
“The President was getting very tired by the end. She could hardly speak, poor thing,” Sonia Gandhi told reporters, flanked by her children and Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Rahul Gandhi was heard telling his mother, “Boring? No comments? Repeating the same thing again and again?”
At an election rally in Delhi’s Dwarka, PM Modi said the Congress family’s “arrogance was on full display today”.
“President Droupadi Murmu addressed parliament. But a member of the royal family said the language was boring. One member said her language seemed tiring… Urban Naxals’ words are more interesting to the royal family,” PM Modi said.
“Urban Naxal” is a term often used by BJP leaders and rightwing organisations to describe Opposition leaders and activists as the city versions of guerillas who fight in the forests.
“Both the Congress and AAP display arrogance. The AAP acts as if they own Delhi, while the Congress family’s arrogance was on full display today. Sonia Gandhi’s comments were totally inappropriate, calling President Droupadi Murmu ‘a poor thing’ after saying she looked tired and gave a boring speech. This remark insults not just the President but also every poor and tribal community,” PM Modi said at the rally.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan in a statement said the comments by some prominent Congress leaders clearly hurt the dignity of the high office, and therefore are unacceptable.
“These leaders have said that the President was getting very tired by the end and she could hardly speak. Rashtrapati Bhavan would like to clarify that nothing could be farther from the truth. The President was not tired at any point. Indeed, she has believed that speaking up for the marginalised communities, for women and farmers, as she was doing during the course of her address, can never be tiring.
“The President’s office believes it might be the case that these leaders have not acquainted themselves with the idiom and discourse in Indian languages such as Hindi, and thus formed a wrong impression. In any case, such comments are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in the statement.
