Row over Sonia Gandhi’s ‘poor thing’ remark on President

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi leaves after the Budget session of Parliament. Pic/PTI

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's reaction to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the Joint session of the Parliament on Friday stoked a controversy after she said the President "could hardly speak." "The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end... she could hardly speak poor thing," Gandhi was purportedly heard saying in a video.

Reacting to this, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said, "Some prominent leaders of the Congress party have made comments that clearly hurt the dignity of the high office, and therefore are unacceptable." Targeting the former Congress chief, the BJP said that Sonia's remark demeans the high office and reflects her feudal mindset.

"Sonia Gandhi referring to the President as a ‘poor thing' demeans the high office and reflects her feudal mindset. This is not the first time the Congress has ridiculed the first tribal woman to hold the highest constitutional office in the country," BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

‘Remark twisted by media'

Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said her mother has the utmost respect for the President and that it is very unfortunate that her remarks have been "twisted by the media". She also hit out at the BJP's demand for an apology over the issue, saying it should first apologise for "ruining the country". "My mother is a 78-year-old lady. She simply said that the President must have been tired reading such a long speech, poor thing."

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