Slugfest over Sonia's 'poor thing' remark

A comment by senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on President Droupadi Murmu kicked up a political row on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Congress and the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the remark hurt the dignity of the high office.

- Vrinda Tulsian

NEW DELHI:

After the President's address opened the budget session of Parliament on Friday morning, Gandhi was asked by reporters outside the House about Murmu's nearly hour-long speech. "The President was getting very tired by the end...She could hardly speak, poor thing," the former Congress chief was heard saying in clips in what appeared to be a reference to how long the address was. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi described the speech as "boring" in one of the clips. To be sure, the President's customary address at the start of the budget session is cleared by the Union government.

Sonia Gandhi's comment immediately sparked a storm of condemnation from Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Hours later, the Rashtrapati Bhavan released a statement calling the remark "unacceptable" and saying that Murmu was not tired. Later in the day, Modi attacked the Congress at a rally in Delhi and alleged that Sonia's comment had insulted tribal communities. "Droupadi Murmu ji has come here from a tribal family. She inspired Parliament today in a wonderful way and gave a speech. But the royal family of Congress has started insulting her. 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. They find the speech of a tribal daughter boring," Modi said in Dwarka.