Sonia's 'poor thing' remark about President Murmu triggers row

Though Sonia made that observation to say that the 66-year-old President looked exhausted after her long customary speech, the BJP was up in arms slamming the Congress’s "feudal mindset". The BJP accused the former Congress chief of making a "derogatory comment" against the President.

President Murmu had addressed a joint sitting of the Parliament this morning to mark the beginning of the Budget Session.

"The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end...she could hardly speak poor thing," Sonia Gandhi was purportedly heard saying in a video doing the rounds on social media.

'Poor thing'

After her customary speech, Congress leader Sonia was asked by reporters for her view on the President’s speech outside the Parliament.

Sonia replied that the President was getting very tired and she could hardly speak “poor thing" by the end. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, both MPs, were with Sonia at that time.

And, Rahul prodded her saying, "Boring? No comments? Repeating the same thing again and again?"

Also read: Budget Session | President Murmu set to address Parliament on Friday

Feudal mindset

Latching on to the remark, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said on X, "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."

"Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, who frequently flaunts a copy of the Constitution, has not even considered making a courtesy visit to the President," he said.

The Congress has no regard for Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution, constitutional values, or those from socially marginalised backgrounds -- namely, Dalits, OBCs, and Tribals, he alleged.

Derogatory comment

BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar hit out at Sonia’s remark calling it a “derogatory comment”.

According to the BJP MP, leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should not pass such comments, especially about 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," Majumdar pointed out.