The Rashtrapati Bhavan responded to the controversy surrounding Congress MP Sonia Gandhi's comment on President Droupadi Murmu's address to the Parliament, stating that such words have "hurt the dignity of the high post" and are deemed "unacceptable, unfortunate, and entirely avoidable."
"While reacting to the media on the Hon'ble President's Address to the Parliament, 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 press release issued by the President's House said.
Reacting to the row, the Rashtrapati Bhavan clarified that the President was not tired at any point. It emphasized that speaking up for marginalized communities, women, and farmers, as she was doing during her address, can never be tiring.
"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 marginalized communities, for women and farmers, as she was doing during the course of her address, can never be tiring," it said.
The President's office also suggested that the leaders making such comments may not be familiar with the idiom and discourse in Indian languages like Hindi, leading to a misunderstanding. Nonetheless, it condemned the remarks as being in poor taste, unfortunate, and entirely avoidable.
What Sonia Gandhi Said On President Murmu's Speech
President Murmu addressed a joint sitting of the Parliament to mark the beginning of the Budget Session, following which Sonia Gandhi was questioned by reporters outside the Parliament.
She remarked, "The President was getting very tired by the end. She could hardly speak, poor thing."
"Boring? No comments? Repeating the same thing again and again?"
Gandhi's comments were an attempt to express concern for the 66-year-old president, whom she perceived as exhausted after delivering her lengthy speech. However, the BJP criticized her remarks and labeled them as derogatory.
BJP Lashes Out At Congress
The BJP condemned Gandhi for her "derogatory" comment on President Murmu, attributing it to the feudal mindset of the Congress party, which struggles to accept that an Adivasi woman holds the country's highest office.
"It was a derogatory comment. Leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should not pass such comments, especially on the President. Droupadi Murmu belongs to an Adivasi family and now she is the number one citizen of our country and that is not accepted by the Congress's zamindaari mindset. That's why they are opposing her speech," BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar stated.
