Rahul Gandhi and his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra have not been in the news for the best of reasons currently. Gandhi’s certain statements made in recent times have gotten a lot of flak, going viral and once again raising questions about the Congress leader.
Here we take a look at some of his most viral ones that have been doing the rounds online and getting a lot of attention, but not in a very positive manner.
Comment On Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
While addressing the public in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Rahul Gandhi talked about the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ event held at the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
Here the Congress leader commented that although OBCs and Dalits make up around 73% of the country’s population, they were glaringly absent from the ceremony, adding that even Indian President Droupadi Murmu was not there.
Gandhi said “Did you see the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram Temple? Was there a single OBC face? There was Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, and Narendra Modi.”
Reportedly, Gandhi has referred to Aishwarya around 4 times so far in his rallies, once saying “Aishwarya will be seen dancing and Bachchan saab will do a Balle Balle!”, and another time saying “Television channels only show Aishwarya Rai dancing. They don’t show anything about the poor people.”
He further said about media that “Media mein kuch dikhana hai toh Aishwarya Rai ko nachte hue dikhana hai” and “Television channels only show Aishwarya Rai dancing. They don’t show anything about the poor people. They show Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan 24 hours.”
Incidentally, Aishwarya Rai had actually not attended the Ram Mandir ceremony at all.
Asking A Reporter If The Channel Owner Was A Dalit
Video clips emerged of a journalist from ‘India News’ while attending the Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh part of the yatra being asked by Rahul Gandhi on who the owner of his TV channel was and whether he was a Dalit.
The TV journalist, Shiv Prasad Yadav, is alleged to have been roughed up by Congress leaders and in a video clip Rahul Gandhi saying “Media ke hain aap? Naam kya hai aapka? Haan? Aap Shiv Prasad ji hain? Aapke maalik ka kya naam hai? Aapke maalik ka kya naam hain? Kya naam hai? Naam bataao. Naam bataao. Bhai maaro mat yaar. Maaro mat usko. Maarna nahin hai. Maarna nahin hai. Naam bataao uska.
Wo OBC hai? Nahin. Wo Dalit hai? Nahin.
(Are you from the media? What is your name? You are Shiv Prasad ji? What is your owner’s name? What is your owner’s name? What’s the name? Tell me the name. Tell me the name. Don’t hit him. Don’t beat him up. Tell his (owner’s) name. Is he OBC? No. Is he Dalit? No).”
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The video was reportedly shared by UP BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi on X/Twitter with the caption “Shiv Yadav’s only fault was that he was acting like a field journalist, and not like a Congress stooge.”
As per reports, the incident occurred when Yadav was trying to prevent his mic from being removed and questioned why he was being obstructed from covering the event properly.
Aishwarya Sharma, head of the Sunday Guardian, which is under the same group as India News, was quoted by Indian Express saying “He had some injuries… he was quite scared… he may file a case. We are speaking to lawyers in our company. The caste slur, asking the caste, was also not proper. He is a reporter working for a long time. You (Rahul) can’t provoke the crowd and then say ‘mat maaro’ (don’t beat him). They are his own security people. So, he (Rahul) has to be more responsible.”
Varanasi Youths Are ‘Drunkard’?
At one public rally in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi reportedly claimed he saw people lying drunk on roads while visiting Varanasi.
He said “I went to Varanasi and I saw people lying on roads drunk. The youths of Uttar Pradesh are on a trip after consuming liquor by night. On the other hand, there is the Ram Mandir which is only visited by the likes of PM Modi, Ambani and Adani. You will see all our billionaires there but not a single person from a backward class or the Dalit community.”
The comments meant to attack PM Modi since Varanasi is his Lok Sabha constituency he added “Your place is only limited to roads for begging while they (Centre’s alleged corporate cronies) keep minting money.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times
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This post is tagged under: Rahul Gandhi, Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress, Indian Politics, Rahul gandhi aishwarya rai, Rahul Gandhi Bharat jodo yatra, Rahul Gandhi Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi viral, Rahul Gandhi gaffes, Rahul Gandhi quotes, Rahul Gandhi dalit, Rahul Gandhi aishwarya rai dance, Rahul Gandhi news, rahul gandhi aishwarya rai remark
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