Rashtrapati Bhavan condemns Sonia Gandhi's remark on President Murmu: 'Comments in poor taste, hurt dignity of high office'

NEW DELHI: The Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday reacted strongly to remarks made by senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi who referred to Droupadi Murmu as "poor thing." Sonia used the phrase while responding to queries by media persons on President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament to mark the beginning of the Budget Session.
"The comments made by some prominent leaders of the Congress party are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable. It has clearly hurt the dignity of the high office and are unacceptable," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
The President's office was reacting to Sonia Gandhi's remarks that went viral after the President concluded her address. "The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end ... she could hardly speak, poor thing," Sonia Gandhi was heard saying in the video.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a strongly-worded statement refuting Sonia Gandhi's claims without taking her name. It asserted that the President was not tired at any point.
"While reacting to the media on the Hon'ble President's Address to the Parliament, some prominent leaders of the Congress party have made comments that clearly hurt the dignity of the high office, and therefore are unacceptable. These leaders have said that the President was getting very tired by the end and she could hardly speak," the Rashtrapati Bhavan statement read.
"These leaders have said that the President was getting very tired by the end and she could hardly speak. Rashtrapati Bhavan would like to clarify that nothing could be farther from the truth. The President was not tired at any point. Indeed, she has believed that speaking up for the marginalised communities, for women and farmers, as she was doing during the course of her address, can never be tiring," the statement added.
Earlier, Sonia's remarks kicked up a storm with the BJP launching an all-out offensive against the Congress. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP called Sonia Gandhi's remarks on President Droupadi Murmu "deeply disrespectful" and an insult to the tribals.
"Look at Congress "shaahi parivaar's" arrogance, it insulted President Droupadi Murmu who comes from tribal background. Congress insults all those who progress from among poor, Dalits, tribals, OBCs," the Prime Minister said leading the charge against the Congress at a rally in Delhi.
BJP national president JP Nadda said in a post on X, "Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's use of the phrase 'poor thing' to refer to the President is deeply disrespectful and underscores the opposition's continued disregard for the dignity of the highest constitutional office."
However, the Congress leaders strongly defended Sonia and accused the BJP and a section of the media of twisting her words. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that his party always respected the dignity of the office of the President and that in order to hide the bad state of the economy, BJP leaders and a section of the media are twisting the phrase used by Sonia Gandhi.
"Her Excellency the President was insulted by the Modi government on the very day when he was not invited to the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
"The Indian National Congress and our leaders can never insult Her Excellency the President or any citizen. This is not our culture. The BJP had deliberately kept our current President and previous President away from both the Temple of Democracy and the Ram Temple," he said.
The Congress chief alleged that the BJP deliberately kept the current President and her predecessor, Ram Nath Kovind, away from both Parliament and Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Congress 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".
"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'. She fully respects, in fact, she has the utmost respect for her (the President). It is very unfortunate that this kind of a thing is twisted by the media," Priyanka told reporters.
"They are both respected people, they are older than us, they are at a certain age now and it is pretty clear that she (Sonia Gandhi) means no disrespect," the Congress MP said while exiting the Parliament House complex after attending a committee meeting.