'Could hardly speak, poor thing', Sonia's remarks put opposition on the defensive; Rashtrapati Bhavan, Prime Minister condemns remark

NEW DELHI: The BJP and the ruling government found an unexpected advantage to counter the opposition’s anticipated attacks during the Parliament's Budget Session. The controversy arose over Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi's remarks about President Droupadi Murmu's address to Parliament.

Speaking at an Assembly election rally in Rohini in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party, accusing the Gandhi family of disrespecting both an Adivasi leader and a woman in a high constitutional position.

“She is a woman who has risen from the tribal forest regions of Odisha. Yet, a senior member of Congress' first family said they were bored listening to her speech. Another family member referred to her as ‘poor thing’ and remarked that she looked exhausted,” Modi said.

He accused Congress of insulting the 10 crore Adivasi community and marginalized sections of the country. "Congress' first family has never liked the poor, Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs. The same people who found the President’s speech boring are the ones who go abroad and insult India,” Modi said.

BJP President JP Nadda demanded that Sonia Gandhi issue a public apology, stating that the use of the term 'poor thing' reflects Congress’ elitist, anti-poor, and anti-tribal mindset.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi came to her mother's defense, accusing BJP of twisting her statement.

“My 78-year-old mother made the remark with respect for the President. She only said, ‘It was a long speech, and the poor woman must be exhausted.’ She did not disrespect the President in any way. Both my mother and the President are dignified individuals deserving of respect. It is the BJP that should apologize for creating unnecessary controversy.”

The words that sparked controversy
“The President was getting very tired by the end. She could hardly speak, poor thing,” Sonia Gandhi told journalists outside the Parliament.

Her son Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, and her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the MP from Wayanad, echoed her sentiments. Rahul Gandhi added, “Listening to the same thing over and over again was boring.”

Rashtrapati Bhavan reacts: 'Hurt the dignity of high office'
Although the Rashtrapati Bhavan usually refrains from commenting on political statements, it made an unusually swift response this time.

'Some prominent leaders of the Congress party have made comments that 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. The President was not tired at any point. Indeed, she has believed that speaking up for marginalized 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,' Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.