Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's reaction to President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the Joint session of the Parliament on Friday stoked a controversy after she said the President “could hardly speak.” “The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end... she could hardly speak poor thing,” Gandhi was purportedly heard saying in a video.

Reacting to this, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said, “Some prominent leaders of the Congress party have made comments that clearly hurt the dignity of the high office, and therefore are unacceptable.” Targeting the former Congress chief, the BJP said that Sonia’s remark demeans the high office and reflects her feudal mindset.