Kharge comes to Sonia Gandhi's defence over her ‘poor thing’ remark on President: ‘BJP trying to hide…’

Kharge said it was the BJP that insulted the President by not inviting her to the inauguration of the new Parliament building or the Ayodhya Ram Temple

As the row over Sonia Gandhi's 'poor thing' remark about President Droupadi Murmu intensified, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge came to her defence and accused the BJP and media of twisting her statements.

Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge said Congress always respected the Office of the President.(ANI)

Reiterating that Congress has always respected the dignity of the office of the President, Kharge said that the BJP leaders and a section of the media are twisting the phrase used by Sonia Gandhi to hide the bad state of the economy.

Kharge counter-attacked the Modi government and said it was the BJP that insulted the President by not inviting her to the inauguration of the new Parliament building or the Ayodhya Ram Temple.

"Her Excellency the President was insulted by the Modi government on the very day when he was not invited to the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

"The Indian National Congress and our leaders can never insult Her Excellency the President or any citizen. This is not our culture. The BJP had deliberately kept our current President and previous President away from both the Temple of Democracy and the Ram Temple," he added.

Kharge's remarks came after the BJP launched an all-out attack on the Congress over its former president Sonia Gandhi's remarks on Murmu's address to a joint sitting of Parliament, saying they were "deeply disrespectful" and underscored the opposition's "continued disregard" for the dignity of the highest constitutional office.

What did Sonia Gandhi say about President Murmu?

In the video, Gandhi remarked that President Murmu appeared "very tired" by the end of her speech and called her a "poor thing."

"The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end... she could hardly speak, poor thing," Sonia Gandhi was heard saying in a video doing the rounds on social media.

BJP President JP Nadda condemned the comment, calling it "deeply disrespectful" and accusing the opposition of undermining the dignity of the office.

"Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's use 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," Nadda said.

PM Modi slams Sonia Gandhi for her remarks on President

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also slammed Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi 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.