New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s remarks that “poor lady” President Droupadi Murmu “could hardly speak” towards the end of her Parliament address Friday was a reflection of the Congress’s “elitist, anti-poor and anti-tribal nature”, the BJP has said, setting the stage for a raucous Budget Session of the House.
Addressing an election rally in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attacked Sonia over her remarks, saying the country “yet again witnessed the arrogance of the royal family of the Congress today”.
“Hindi is not her (Murmu) mother tongue. Despite that, she delivered a fine address. But the royal family of the Congress insulted her. One member of the royal family said that the adivasi’s daughter gave a boring speech. Another member went one step ahead and called the President a poor thing. She was called poor, a thing, tired. This amounts to insulting the country’s tribal brothers and sisters,” Modi said.
Sonia made the comment outside Parliament—turning to her son and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi—when the media held up their mics to get a response to President Murmu’s opening remarks on the Budget Session.
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Sonia was heard saying, “Poor lady… The President was getting very tired by the end… She could hardly speak, poor thing.” On what he thought of the address, Rahul first reacted with a “Boring”, and then said, “No, comments”. He then told his mother: “Repeating the same thing again and again.”
BJP president and Union health minister J.P. Nadda demanded Sonia Gandhi apologise to President Murmu and the tribal communities of India for “the deliberate usage of such words” which show the “elitist, anti-poor and anti-tribal nature of the Congress Party”.
Hon. President Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji’s address to the joint session of Parliament was both insightful and forward-looking, providing a comprehensive overview of the government’s remarkable development journey over the past decade under the visionary leadership of Hon. PM Shri…
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 31, 2025
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri also waded into the controversy, saying Sonia’s remarks were “shocking beyond belief”.
Sonia Gandhi Ji’s comment on the President of India, is shocking beyond belief. Referring to her in such a condescending and derogatory way is appalling. One is beginning to wonder if Congress is a political party in a functioning democracy, or is it a set of entitled and… pic.twitter.com/HGNPpvx6RA
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 31, 2025
“One is beginning to wonder if Congress is a political party in a functioning democracy, or is it a set of entitled and arrogant people with scant respect for institutions of our Republic, including the Head of State. Have they no shame?
“To use terms like ‘boring’ and ‘tired old’ for the first ever tribal lady to grace the country’s highest office and who exudes the finest values reflects the elitist entitled mindset of the Congress party and members of its first family,” Puri posted on X.
BJP leader Amit Malviya, who’s in charge of BJP’s Information and Technology cell, said the remarks reflected “her feudal mindset”.
Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi wrote on X that Sonia’s “empathy” for the President’s health “cannot be digested by the men in the BJP”.
His post further said: “Every person in India has respect and empathy for the President. Will the BJP answer for the disrespect shown to President Murmu when she was not invited to the inauguration of the Parliament or the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya ? I challenge them to answer this question.”
Later, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also defended her mother, saying it was pretty clear that Sonia meant no disrespect.
“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. I think she has utmost respect for her (President),” she told reporters on her way to attend a joint parliamentary committee meeting on ‘one Nation, one election’.
“I think it’s very unfortunate that this kind of thing has been twisted by the media. They are both respected people, they are older than us. It’s pretty clear that she means no disrespect.”
Reacting to the BJP’s demand for an apology, Priyanka added, “The BJP should first apologise for landing the country in a ditch.”
This is not the first time the Congress has been accused of disrespecting President Murmu.
In 2022, the party’s then Lok Sabha Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had sparked a major row by referring to Murmu as “Rashtrapatni”. He later tendered a written apology to Murmu, saying it was a “slip of the tongue”.
In his post on X, Malviya added that Rahul Gandhi, “who frequently flaunts a copy of the Constitution, has not even considered making a courtesy visit to the President”, despite holding the post of LoP in the Lok Sabha.
“The Congress has no regard for Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution, constitutional values, or those from socially marginalised backgrounds—namely, Dalits, OBCs, and Tribals. The rot starts at the top,” Malviya wrote.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Rahul says Congress’s fight for Dalits weakened post 1990s—period covering Rao & Singh’s tenures as PM
