Sonia's remarks on President's address insult to tribal society, women: Ex-J'khand CM

Jamshedpur, Jan 31 (PTI) Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren on Friday slammed the Congress for “insulting” the tribal society and the country’s women, amid a row over Sonia Gandhi's reaction on President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of Parliament.

Soren said the grand old party can never come to terms with the fact that a tribal woman has attained the highest post in the country.

“This is an insult to the tribal society. Along with this, it is an insult to all women,” the former CM said in a post on X.

Soon after the President delivered her address, former Congress chief, 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.

Soren, in his post, said: “This is what the Congress thinks about a tribal woman holding the highest constitutional post in the country... This is the character of Congressmen, who sometimes remove the tribal religious code and sometimes open fire on protesting tribals. This is their truth.” The BJP legislator also asserted that only the BJP-led Union government has made it possible to accord such honour to a tribal woman, decades after Independence.

Meanwhile, reacting to the criticism, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said her mother has the utmost respect for the President, and it is very unfortunate that her remarks have been "twisted by the media".

"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'. She fully respects, in fact she has the utmost respect for her (the President). It is very unfortunate that this kind of a thing is twisted by the media," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi. PTI BS RBT