New Parliament building inauguration | Parties talking today about President’s eminence spoke ill of her before she got elected: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the media at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai, on Thursday that the Opposition parties, now speaking of President Droupadi Murmu as an eminent leader from a tribal community, had ran a bitter campaign against her before she got elected as the President.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the media at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai, on Thursday that the Opposition parties, now speaking of President Droupadi Murmu as an eminent leader from a tribal community, had ran a bitter campaign against her before she got elected as the President.

Responding to the criticism from a section of the Opposition parties that the Union government had “disrespected” the President by not having her inaugurate the new Parliament building, she said these parties did not just run an election campaign against her, but spoke ill of her, “abused her,” and said she was going to be a “rubber stamp”. “I do not wish to recall the kind of words they used at that time,” she said.

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These parties said Ms. Murmu represented “evil forces” and not anything the country needed, she added. “Obviously [by evil forces] they had the RSS in mind,” she inferred. Ms. Sitharaman said she could give the entire list of parties and the words they used. “Not one in that group said anything to honour her at that time. Today, suddenly they feel that we have to recognise...” she said.

According to her, the present government at the Centre duly respected the President. “Our honourable Prime Minister himself gives her due respect. All of us are extremely proud of our Rahstrapati ji,” she added.

Alleging that it was former Congress president Sonia Gandhi who inaugurated the Assembly building in Chhattisgarh, Ms. Sitharaman asked under what capacity did she do that. She asked should the inauguration not been done by the Governor, going by the logic articulated by the Opposition parties now.

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