PM Modi Slams Sonia Gandhi Over ‘Poor Thing’ Remark on President Murmu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi over her ‘poor thing’ remark for President Droupadi Murmu, saying the “royal family” insulted “a tribal daughter”.

“Droupadi Murmu ji has come here from a tribal family. Her mother tongue is not Hindi, it is Odia. She wonderfully inspired the Parliament today 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,” PM Modi said at a political rally in Delhi.

PM Modi said the remark was an insult to the 10 crore tribal brothers and sisters of the country.

“This is an insult to the 10 crore tribal brothers and sisters of the country. This is an insult to every poor person in the country…They like abusing people, defaming India in foreign countries and talking about urban Naxals. Delhi has to be very cautious. Out of fear of losing, these two egoists have joined hands,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

What did Sonia Gandhi say?

Reacting to President Droupadi Murmu’s joint address to Parliament, Sonia Gandhi said, “The President was getting very tired by the end…She could hardly speak, poor thing.”

BJP Chief JP Nadda Condemns Remark

BJP chief JP Nadda condemned the phrase, stating, “I and every BJP Karyakarta strongly condemn the usage of the phrase ‘poor thing’ by Smt. Sonia Gandhi for Honourable President of India, Droupadi Murmu Ji. The deliberate usage of such words shows the elitist, anti-poor and anti-tribal nature of the Congress Party.”

Rashtrapati Bhavan Reacts

The Rashtrapati Bhavan also criticized the remark, calling it “in poor taste.”

“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,” it said.