New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly criticised Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her “poor thing” comment on President Droupadi Murmu, hours after the Rashtrapati Bhavan also termed the comments on the President’s address to parliament as “unfortunate and entirely avoidable” and “in poor taste”.
After the President’s address to a joint sitting of parliament at the beginning of the budget session, Sonia Gandhi described President Murmu, 66, as a “poor thing” because, according to the Congress leader, the President appeared exhausted after the long, customary speech.
“The President was getting very tired by the end. She could hardly speak, poor thing,” Sonia Gandhi told reporters, flanked by her children and Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Rahul Gandhi was heard telling his mother, “Boring? No comments? Repeating the same thing again and again?”
At an election rally in Delhi’s Dwarka, PM Modi said the Congress family’s “arrogance was on full display today”.
“President Droupadi Murmu addressed parliament. But a member of the royal family said the language was boring. One member said her language seemed tiring… Urban Naxals’ words are more interesting to the royal family,” PM Modi said.
“Urban Naxal” is a term often used by BJP leaders and rightwing organisations to describe Opposition leaders and activists as the city versions of guerillas who fight in the forests.
