Congress MP Sonia Gandhi commented on the President's speech at the Budget session, saying that Droupadi Murmu seemed "very tired" by the end. Her son, Rahul Gandhi, described the speech as "boring." Although Sonia Gandhi did not speak to the media directly, she was heard sharing her thoughts with Rahul about Murmu's hour-long address in Parliament. She made sure her critical remarks were noticed by the reporters present.

Rahul Gandhi referred to the speech as "boring" when the Rajya Sabha MP was heard making "false promises". "The President was getting very tired by the end," Sonia responded. She was barely able to speak, Poor thing." The President was "repeating the same thing again and again," according to the Lok Sabha's Leader of the Opposition, who was observed nodding in agreement. MP Pappu Yadav of Purnia also voiced his opinion, referring to the President as just a government rubber stamp. "The President is like a stamp. She just has to read a love letter," Pappu Yadav said. Kalyan Banerjee, a member of the Trinamool Congress, too stoked controversy when he described the president's speech as "depressing" and "funny." "It was a funny speech. I am frustrated with the speech. Neither did the President visit Manipur nor did she mention it," Banerjee, a known motormouth, said. 

The Gandhis were swiftly attacked by the BJP, which claimed that the comments were disrespectful to India's first indigenous woman president. According to Gaurav Bhatia, national spokesperson for the BJP, the comment revealed the "low level of gutter politics and character of the Congress". "The fake Ghandy family cannot tolerate that someone from outside the Gandhi family can occupy high constitutional posts. This insult is an insult to every Indian, an insult to every tribal, an insult to every woman. This country will not tolerate this," he wrote in a post on x.

JP Nadda, the Union Minister, asked the Congress and India's tribal people to apologise. "The deliberate usage of such words shows the elitist, anti-poor and anti-tribal nature of the Congress party," Nadda tweeted. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also condemned the remarks, saying it "demeans" the office of the President.

The President highlighted that the speed of work in the NDA's third term had tripled during her hour-long speech, which also detailed the government's accomplishments in every field. Murmu supported her assertion with rulings on matters like Waqf boards and "One Nation One Election." "My government is working with a 'saturation approach', so nobody is left in the journey of Vikshit Bharat," Murmu stated. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also slammed the Congress over "poor thing”. He called it an insult to a President from a tribal community.

Speaking at an election rally in Dwarka, Delhi, the Prime Minister accused Congress leaders of showing arrogance and disrespect towards President Murmu. "Look at shahi parivaar's (royal family's) arrogance. It insulted President Droupadi Murmu, who comes from a tribal background. A member of the shahi family termed the President's speech boring and said she is a poor thing. This is an insult to all tribals," PM Modi said without naming Sonia Gandhi.

Meanwhile, The Rashtrapati Bhavan also noted the remarks made by "some prominent leaders of the Congress" and stated that these comments clearly harmed the dignity of the high office, terming them as unacceptable. “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 President was not tired at any point. Indeed, she has believed that speaking up for the marginalised communities, for women and farmers, as she was doing during the course of her address, can never be tiring,” the statement 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 comments are in poor taste, unfortunate and entirely avoidable,” added the statement.