Rashtrapati Bhavan criticises Sonia Gandhi over her inappropriate remarks against President Droupadi Murmu

Amid the mounting pressure against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Rashtrapati Bhavan has come out to criticise her inappropriate remarks against President Droupadi Murmu made earlier in the day (on January 31st).

The official statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said, “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 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 marginalized communities, for women and farmers, as she was doing during the course of her address, can never be tiring. The President’s office believes it might be the case that these leaders have not acquainted themselves with the idiom and discourse in Indian languages such as Hindı, and thus formed a wrong impression. In any case, such comments are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable.”

Incidentally, on the very first day of the Budget Session of 2025, Congress stalwart and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi courted a fresh controversy. Her insulting and condescending remarks for President Droupadi Murmu who hails from the Tribal community and rose from a humble ground, is being seen as a redux of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry’s episode. The remarks have prompted the BJP to launch an all out attack on the Congress party and charge it with anti-Tribal party jibes.

Notably, the fresh controversy erupted when Sonia Gandhi was reacting to President Murmu’s speech to kick start the Budget Session. Speaking with reporters outside the Parliament building, Sonia Gandhi said, “The poor lady, the President, was getting tired at the end.” The Congress MP further added, “She (President) could hardly speak, poor thing.” She was accompanied by her son and daughter, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. In another clip, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could be heard describing the President’s address as “boring”.
Congress has insulted President: BJP launches an all out attack

Slamming Congress MP Sonia Gandhi’s contentious remarks, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Such an insult of the President was unprecedented. The kind of words Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and his son and LoP Rahul Gandhi used against the President, I cannot even imagine. What else can be expected from them?…”

In a long X post, BJP President JP Nadda slammed the Congress party saying, “Former Congress President Smt 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. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident…”