Just hours after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi remarked that President Droupadi Murmu appeared ‘weary by the end’ of her speech during the opening day of the 2025 Budget Session in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly criticized the disparaging comments directed at the President.
Additionally, concerning her Budget address.
During a political rally in Delhi, PM Modi stated, “Droupadi Murmu ji hails from a tribal background. Her first language is not Hindi; it’s Odia. She delivered an inspiring speech in Parliament today. However, the Congress royal family has resorted to insults. One member of the royal family described the speech by the tribal daughter as dull. Another went further, labeling the President a ‘poor thing.’ They deem the speech of a tribal daughter to be uninteresting.”
Previously, while speaking to the media outside of Parliament, Sonia Gandhi expressed, as reported by ANI, “…The President was becoming very fatigued toward the end…She could barely speak, poor thing…”
Independent MP Pappu Yadav commented, “The President is akin to a stamp. She merely reads a love letter…” He also criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of misleading the electorate that supported them.
“Let’s begin with the economy, demonetization, black money, ₹15 lakh, 2 crore jobs, Ayushmann, Jan Dhan Yojana, MSPs, Manipur, Agniveer, reservation, caste census… The BJP constantly deceives and attempts to distract. The grand Mahakumbh occurs every 12 years, but they claimed it happens once in 144 years. They neglect discussions about the common people and the economy…” he told ANI.
Rashtrapati Bhavan responds to Sonia Gandhi:
The statement was labeled as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘completely avoidable’.
“These leaders have asserted that the President became very fatigued by the end and could barely speak. Rashtrapati Bhavan would like to clarify that nothing could be further from the truth. The President was not fatigued at any point. On the contrary, she believes that advocating for marginalized communities, women, and farmers, as she did during her address, can never be exhausting,” read an official statement.
“The President’s office feels these leaders might not be familiar with the idiom and discourse in Indian languages, such as Hindi, and thus have formed an incorrect impression,” the statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan further elaborated.