New Delhi, India: The Rashtrapati Bhavan reacted to Sonia Gandhi's "poor thing" remark on President Droupadi Murmu. 

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“Rashtrapati Bhavan would like to clarify that nothing could be farther from the truth. The President was not tired at any point," it said in a statement. 

It added that she was speaking for marginalised communities, women and farmers and speaking up for these topics can never be tiring for her. 

The statement further said that the president's office believes that there must be a case where the opposition leaders "have not acquainted themselves with the idiom and discourse in Indian languages such as Hindi".

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It added that in either case, Gandhi's comments were in "poor taste, unfortunate, and entirely avoidable". 

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday (Jan 31) targeted former Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the "poor thing" remark she allegedly made about President Droupadi Murmu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party accused Gandhi of disrespecting the high office and said that her comment exhibited a "feudal mindset." 

What happened?

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The controversy erupted after a video surfaced showing Sonia Gandhi purportedly commenting on the President's apparent exhaustion during her address to both Houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget session.  

In the video circulating on social media, Gandhi is allegedly heard saying, "The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end...She could hardly speak poor thing."

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The video is being widely shared on social media platforms. Watch it here:

BJP slams Sonia Gandhi

Reacting sharply, BJP President and Union Minister J.P. Nadda "strongly condemned" the remark.

Taking to X, Nadda said, "I and every BJP Karyakarta STRONGLY CONDEMN the usage of the phrase 'poor thing' by Smt. Sonia Gandhi for the Honourable President of India, Droupadi Murmu Ji."

"The deliberate usage of such words exposes the elitist, anti-poor, and anti-tribal mindset of the Congress Party," he alleged demanding an apology.

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"I demand that the Congress Party unreservedly apologise to the Honourable President and the tribal communities of India."

BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya also slammed Gandhi for her comments, labelling them "demeaning" to the President, who is India's first tribal woman to hold the nation's highest constitutional office.  

"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," Malviya posted on X (formerly Twitter). 

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"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 added.

He also accused the Congress of historically undermining individuals from socially marginalised communities and said that the party has no regard for Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution, constitutional values, or those from marginalised communities -Dalit, OBC, or tribal backgrounds.

(With inputs from agencies)