Calling the President as “poor thing” is insulting and inappropriate
The manner in which the supreme leader of Congress Sonia Gandhi spoke about President Droupadi Murmu cannot be justified under any circumstances.
Sonia Gandhi made the remark while speaking to her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Vadra outside Parliament. She said, “the poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end…she could hardly speak, poor thing”. Soon after, video of this remark became viral on social media and also on news television. This triggered a furore with top BJP leaders demanding an apology for “insulting the first tribal President”.
The reaction from Rashtrapati Bhavan was swift and precise, without naming Sonia Gandhi. It said, “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 statement further 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 comment are in poort taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable. It has clearly hurt the dignity of the high office and is unacceptable.”
To publicly describe the President of the Republic of India as “poor lady” and “poor thing” is insulting. Droupadi Murmu hails from a poor tribal family and adorns the highest post of the land. To describe her as “poor thing, tired” is unfortunate.
The issue is serious because the remark was part of a conversation between three persons hailing from the same family. The remark was not in reply to any pesky reporter’s question. The Gandhi-Nehru family has ruled India for decades and it understands the dignity of the post of President.
Sonia Gandhi, on her part, always chooses her words carefully while speaking. Except one or two instances in the past, she never made any loose comment about anybody. But it seems, Rahul Gandhi wanted her mother to say something.
Rahul Gandhi did not like the President’s address and said it was “boring”. Probably, he wanted her mother to say something about the government, but he forgot that it was the President who was placing the government’s views in her address.
In the past, Rahul Gandhi had been saying at public meetings how Modi government did not invite President Droupadi Murmu to the Pran Pratistha (installation) ceremony at Ram Lala temple in Ayodhya. At several rallies, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the President was not invited because she was a tribal. But the manner in which both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul spoke about the President and insulted the dignity of her office on Friday, has let the cat out of the bag.
Why BJP fired Soros missile at Sonia, Rahul Gandhi ?
In its first sharpest attack on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, coincidentally on her birthday (December 9), BJP President J P Nadda alleged in Rajya Sabha that a top Congress leader had close links with institutions funded by American billionaire investor George Soros. Nadda alleged that Soros wanted to destablize India, that he does not accept Kashmir as part of India and that he was working on anti-Indian agenda in collusion with Congress.
Without naming Sonia Gandhi, Nadda alleged, “the link between Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific (FDL-AP) and George Soros is a matter of concern. The co-president of this forum is a member of this House”. He alleged that FDL-AP sees Jammu & Kashmir as a separate entity and it gets financial support from Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
Nadda alleged that “this outfit has been maligning India’s image and it raises concern about our national security. People are worried over the manner in which Congress is playing with national security”. BJP demanded that a Joint Parliamentary Committee be set up to probe the links of George Soros-funded institution with Congress and that there should be a discussion on this issue in Parliament.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge strongly opposed the allegations made by Nadda. Kharge alleged that the Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar was being partial towards the ruling party. Congress leaders threatened to bring a no-confidence motion against the RS Chairman.
Outside the House, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi named Sonia Gandhi and alleged that as co-president of FDL-AP, she had close links with George Soros. Trivedi pointed out that Soros had, in the past, claimed that he was ready to give funds to the tune of one billion dollars to destabilize Modi’s government.
George Soros-funded Forum For Democratic Leaders is active in more than 100 countries and it has four co-presidents, one of whom is Sonia Gandhi, as chairperson of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Trivedi alleged that persons linked to Soros-funded outfits had joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. He demanded that the Congress must clarify its links with George Soros.
Forum For Democratic Leaders was set up in 1994 in Seoul at the initiative of then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. Sonia Gandhi was not in active politics at that time, but as chairperson of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation she was appointed one of the four co-presidents of FDL. George Soros had also given funds to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Soros had been openly advocating holding of referendum on J&K and he considers Narendra Modi an authoritarian leader.
George Soros is an Hungarian-born American billionaire, but he considers himself a stateless person. For the last several years, he had been working on an agenda to destabilize the Indian government led by Narendra Modi.
During elections in India, institutions connected with Soros deliberately explode information bombs, meant to cause damage to Modi’s party. On the eve of Parliament sessions too, Soros’ eco-system had been releasing news reports meant to create an atmosphere against Modi government.
The question now is, what is Sonia Gandhi’s connection with George Soros? It is a fact that she is one of the co-presidents of Forum of Democratic Leaders for Asia-Pacific. This is an anti-Indian forum which advocates separation of Jammu & Kashmir from India. Questions are being asked about Sonia’s connections with this forum, but, till now, the Congress had not come forward with any response.
Secondly, BJP has alleged that Rahul Gandhi, in collusion with George Soros, has been part of anti-India conspiracies. Rahul had been making vitriolic attacks on Modi inside and outside Parliament, after getting advance news from Soros-funded institutions.
Two things are clear: One, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have connections with Soros-funded institutions, and Two, Soros is anti-Modi and he wants to destabilize the government. The question now arises about how Gautam Adani comes into the picture?
For the last several days, Congress MPs have been staging protests outside Parliament chanting slogans against Modi and Adani. Rahul Gandhi’s latest allegation is that George Soros and his outfits have exposed Gautam Adani, and that Modi was shielding Adani.
George Soros’ role in this matter is very interesting. He has connections with Financial Times, London. Four years ago, in 2020, Financial Times had commented that if Modi was to be weakened, Gautam Adani should be targeted.
Rahul Gandhi is going ahead on these lines. There are several examples. On the eve of G20 summit in India last year, Rahul had attacked Modi on Adani issue on Hindenburg report. He had also raised the issue of US FBI probe against Adani group. Soros manufactures news, and Rahul uses that news to target Modi.
It has also been alleged that whenever Rahul visits UK or US, the entire planning is done by the eco-system funded by Soros. Rahul Gandhi never replied to such allegations. He has been repeatedly alleging that Modi was trying to shield Adani, but he never replies to this argument that if Adani is corrupt, why are Congress governments giving big ticket projects to Adani group? As chief ministers Revanth Reddy and Ashok Gehlot shook hands with Gautam Adani and gave big projects to his group.
Rahul Gandhi’s double standards on Adani and his connections with George Soros are known to other INDIA bloc leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav. These leaders and their parties have kept themselves away from Rahul Gandhi on Adani issue.