'My mother is 78': Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reacts to Rashtrapati Bhavan's response to Sonia's remark

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi

Amid row over Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's remark on President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint session of the Parliament, party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said her mother did not mean any disrespect.

"My mother is a 78-year-old lady, she simply said that the President must have been tired reading such a long speech, poor thing... I don't think she... I think she has utmost respect for her (President). I think it's very unfortunate that this kind of thing has twisted by the media. They are both respected people, they are older than us; it's pretty clear that she means no disrespect," Priyanka told reporters.

After Murmu kicked off the first day of the Budget session in the Parliament on Friday, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said the President was getting tired.

"The President was getting very tired by the end...She could hardly speak, poor thing..." said Gandhi.

VIDEO | Here's what Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) said amid row over Sonia Gandhi's remarks on President address to the joint session of the Parliament."My mother is a 78-year-old lady, she simply said that the President must have been tired reading such pic.twitter.com/Puu79ESHcO
Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 31, 2025

In response, the Rashtrapati Bhavan the called the remark “farther from 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," a statement read. It also said 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".