Remarks of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul on Murmu insult for Santal community & Odisha: Majhi

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday demanded an immediate apology from the Opposition Congress over the remarks of party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on President Droupadi Murmu and said those were insults for the people of Odisha and the Santal community also.

Majhi expressed his opinion on the ongoing debate over the alleged disrespect to the country’s first tribal woman President through a long post on X.

"Sonia Gandhi's comment, 'Poor lady President Murmu got tired at the end,' and Rahul Gandhi's 'boring' remarks are not just insults to India's first tribal woman President but also a slight against the Santhal community, the people of Odisha, and the democratic ethos of the nation," the chief minister said.

Majhi said that President Murmu who hails from Odisha embodies the aspirations of millions, particularly the tribal and marginalised communities, and has risen to the highest constitutional office through sheer perseverance, dedication, and service.

"The disrespectful and condescending remarks made by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi against the President of India are deeply reprehensible and expose the Congress party's elitist and dismissive attitude," Majhi said.

He said that the Congress party’s repeated attempts to belittle her only reveal their ingrained arrogance and disregard for India’s democratic institutions.

"On behalf of the people of Odisha, I strongly denounce these offensive and disrespectful remarks. The people of India will not stand for such affronts to our constitutional head, and the Congress leadership must issue an immediate apology," Majhi said.

Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal also condemned Sonia Gandhi’s remarks and alleged that Congress cannot tolerate the rise of tribals, Dalits and OBCs as it is happening during the BJP.

Meanwhile, the activists of the BJP Mahila Morcha staged a demonstration and burnt an effigy of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and demanded her resignation for allegedly insulting the President of India.

Soon after the President delivered her address to a joint sitting of Parliament on Friday, 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.

During the discussion, Rahul Gandhi was also heard asking his mother if the President's speech was "boring".