New Delhi: The Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday asserted that President Droupadi Murmu was not tired at any point while addressing the Parliament and the comments made by leaders of the Congress are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a clarification after senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi said that the President was tired.
In a media statement, 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," it said.
"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 Hindi, and thus formed a wrong impression. In any case, such comments are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable," added the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
A huge row erupted after the comments made by Sonia Gandhi, wife of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The BJP on Friday latched on to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's reaction to President Droupadi Murmu's address to both Houses of Parliament, alleging the Congress leader referring to the President as a "poor thing" demeans the high office and reflects her feudal mindset.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lashed out at the Gandhi family for Sonia Gandhi's remarks against the President.
Addressing a poll rally in Delhi, PM Modi said, "Droupadi Murmuji, who comes from an Adivasi family from the jungles in Odisha, has reached her present position. Her mother tongue is not Hindi, it is Odia. Despite not being her mother tongue, she inspired the Parliament with her speech."
"However, the Royal family of the Congress has insulted her. One member of the royal family said that the Adivasi woman gave a boring speech. The other member (of the royal family of the Congress) went one step ahead. She termed the President as 'poor thing', 'poor' and 'tired'," the Prime Minister said.
"Congress feels that the speech of an Adivasi woman is boring. This is an insult to the 10 crore Adivasis in the country. This is an insult to every poor person in the country, the royal family of the Congress dislikes anyone who comes from a humble background and rises, they insult poor, Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs who have risen at every stage...," PM Modi added.
