In an unprecedented move, the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday reacted strongly over the Congress leaders’ comments on President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint session of the Parliament terming the remarks are “in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable”.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan which has never responded to such political remarks, in a statement said such comments hurt the dignity of the high office and therefore are “unacceptable”.
Soon after the President concluded her address to the joint sitting of both the Houses, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were seen discussing the speech. “The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end...She could hardly speak poor thing,” Sonia was heard saying in a video doing the rounds on social media.
The President’s office said it believes that “it might be the case that these leaders were not acquainted with the idiom and discourse in Indian languages such as Hindi, and thus formed a wrong impression”. In any case, such comments are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable, the statement said.
“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 said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing its “shahi parivar” of insulting President Droupadi Murmu, who hails from a tribal background. In a direct response to Congress leaders’ purported remarks on Murmu, Modi, at a public meeting in the national Capital said, “These Congress people think they are the masters of the country. The arrogance of the Congress royal family has once again been exposed.”
While the ruling BJP also launched an all-out attack on the grand old party saying they were “deeply disrespectful” and underscored the opposition’s “continued disregard” for the dignity of the highest constitutional office, Congress hit back and said every person in India has respect and empathy for President Murmu but the BJP leaders cannot digest Sonia Gandhi’s “empathy” for her health.
Modi alleged that the Congress members belittled Murmu with their remarks on her speech. “The Congress royal family does not accept anyone from the Dalit, Adivasi, and OBC communities who rise above their circumstances. They insult them at every step,” he said.
BJP national president J P Nadda said the former Congress president 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.
Amid the row Congress Lok Sabha MP and daughter of Sonia, 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”. She also hit out at the BJP’s demand for an apology over the issue, saying it should first apologise for “ruining the country”.
“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 Gandhi said talking to media.
Hitting back, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said in Sonia Gandhi’s empathy for President Droupadi Murmu health cannot be digested by the men in BJP. “Will the BJP answer for the disrespect shown to President Murmu when she was not invited to the inauguration of the Parliament or the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya?” the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha asked.
