Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party for the "poor thing" remark on President Droupadi Murmu on Friday (Jan 31). PM Modi said the president is from a tribal family in India. Hindi is not her mother tongue, it is Odia (Language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha).
Speaking further he said that Murmu wonderfully inspired the Parliament but the "royal family of Congress" started insulting the president. Taking a jibe at Sonia Gandhi, the PM said, "A member of the royal family said that the tribal daughter gave a boring speech. Another member went one step further and called the President a poor thing."
#WATCH | Delhi: PM Narendra Modi says, "Droupadi Murmu ji has come here from a tribal family. Her mother tongue is not Hindi, it is Odia. She inspired the Parliament today in a wonderful way, gave a speech. But the royal family of Congress has started insulting her. A member of… pic.twitter.com/yIB0c4PUhl
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2025
The PM said the Congress found the speech of a tribal person boring, and it's an insult to the entire 100 million tribal population of India.
"This is an insult to every poor person in the country...They like abusing people, defaming India in foreign countries and talking about urban Naxalsm," PM Modi added.
Also read: India Budget Session Day 1 | President Murmu’s speech, Economic Survey tabled – As it happened
He also spoke about the upcoming assembly election in Delhi on Feb 5, PM Modi said the people of Delhi should be "cautious" as "these two egoists" have joined hands "out of fear of losing".
'My mother is 78'
After the fiery reactions to Sonia Gandhi's remarks, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said her mother had no intention of disrespecting the president.
VIDEO | Here's what Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) said amid row over Sonia Gandhi's remarks on President address to the joint session of the Parliament.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 31, 2025
"My mother is a 78-year-old lady, she simply said that the President must have been tired reading such… pic.twitter.com/Puu79ESHcO
"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 don't think she... I think she has the utmost respect for her (the President). 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," Vadra said, PTI reported.
'Unfortunate, entirely avoidable'
The Rashtrapati Bhavan also reacted to Sonia Gandhi's "poor thing" remark on President Droupadi Murmu.
“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.
Also read: Budget Session begins tomorrow, President Murmu to address both Houses of Parliament
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".
It added that in either case, Gandhi's comments were in "poor taste, unfortunate, and entirely avoidable".
Previosuly, the Bharatiya Janata Party targeted Sonia Gandhi over the remark and accused her of disrespecting the high office and said that her comment exhibited a "feudal mindset."
(With inputs from agencies)