‘My mother is 70-80 years old’: Priyanka Gandhi clarifies Sonia's ‘poor thing’ remark about President Murmu

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has clarified her mother Sonia Gandhi's recent remarks regarding President Droupadi Murmu, which have stirred up controversy. Defending her mother, Priyanka Gandhi said, "My mother is a 70-80-year-old lady; she simply said that the president must have been tired reading such a long speech, poor thing."

Priyanka Gandhi emphasised that Sonia Gandhi holds President Droupadi Murmu in high regard and expressed disappointment over how the media has twisted her comments. “It's very unfortunate that this kind of thing has been twisted by the media. They are both respected people, older than us; it's pretty clear that she means no disrespect,” she added.

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Soon after President Murmu delivered her address to a joint sitting of Parliament, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were seen discussing the speech in the Parliament complex.

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

Priyanka Gandhi also criticised the BJP for politicising the issue, urging the saffron party to “apologise first for ruining the country”.

The Congress MP's remarks come amid a backlash from the BJP, which has condemned Sonia Gandhi's comments as derogatory and disrespectful to the office of the president.

The BJP has accused the Congress party of exhibiting a feudal mindset, particularly in light of President Murmu's status as the first tribal woman to hold the highest constitutional position in India.

Meanwhile, the Rashtrapati Bhavan also issued a statement in response to Sonia Gandhi saying, “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,” the statement 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,” the statement further added.