The Congress party on Thursday defended party chief Rahul Gandhi after he was trolled for browsing his phone during President Ram Nath Kovind’s address in Parliament. Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that Gandhi was translating difficult Hindi words that he could not hear properly.

"There were certain queries about certain words. There were some difficult Hindi words which they (Rahul) did not hear clearly as to what was said,” Sharma said, adding, the Congress chief was listening to whatever was necessary.

A video of the Congress chief went viral yesterday in which he can be seen scrolling through his phone while President Kovind was addressing a joint session.

Soon after the video went viral, several BJP leaders criticised the Congress chief and said that he disrespected the President by using his phone during his speech.

Retorting to BJP’s criticism, Sharma said, "There is nothing like disrespecting as it is being said. I think it is very frivolous if the BJP is saying this.”

The Congress leader also alleged that several other ministers were also talking to each other during President Kovind's address.

"If the footage is taken, then half of the ministers were talking to each other. Were they also disrespecting the President? It is not a fair comment," he added, news agency ANI reported.

Earlier, Union minister Giriraj Singh slammed Gandhi for not paying heed to  President’s address and called him a "non-serious" leader.

"He is a tall leader of a party. The President was presenting a roadmap to the country's progress for the next five years. It is extremely unfortunate that a leader who calls himself a serious leader, is not (really) serious," he said.

"Nothing can be more unfortunate than using a mobile phone and not paying heed to what the President was saying," Singh said.

Minister of State of Sports Kiren Rijiju also hit out at the Congress president and said, "Rahul Gandhi keeps playing with his phone. He should practice yoga to focus on himself."

Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo said that Gandhi may have found "something more important" than President Kovind's speech.

President Kovind on Thursday addressed a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament – the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and the Lok Sabha (lower house) in the Central Hall of Parliament.