Rahul Gandhi "stumped" over an obvious question, gets "sarcastic" applause from the audience

When the name of Congress leader "Rahul Gandhi" pops up, there is always controversy or blunders associated with him. In yet another such incident, a recent interview of him has gone viral and obviously for the wrong reasons.

 

The Print columnist, Shruti Kapila, who was the interviewer, asked Rahul about his views on violence and non-violence in the context of Indian society. The exact question was "How do you envision the compact between violence and non-violence in Indian society". What followed was a long pause by the senior Congress leader that left the netizens in splits.

 

 

 

It seemed like Rahul Gandhi was wondering what to answer as there was a pin drop silence inside the auditorium. After a while, he said, "I think... I mean the word that comes to mind is forgiveness. It is not precisely accurate.. its..." and again he was silent. A few from the audience then clapped, drawing Rahul's attention and he said "...I am thinking."

 

Shruti sensed that she has asked a question to which Rahul is finding difficult to respond. "I didn't mean to stump you... it's a very obvious question," she said. "You didn't stump me," Rahul responded. "No one has asked you, I am surprised," the interviewer then said. "No no... they have asked," he replied, adding that "I am trying to go deeper in the answer" amid laughter from the audience.

 

This incident was shared by several social users.

 

 

 

Netizens also shared that the video uploaded later was cropped "cleverly".

 

 

 

 

Few users also asked what does the question even mean asked by the interviewer.

 

 

 

 

There was another video that was shared by Indian civil service officer Siddhartha Verma. He countered Rahul Gandhi over the latter's reference to India as a 'group of states' during an interaction at the University of Cambridge.

 

"You quoted Article 1 of the Constitution saying India is a union of states as per the constitution. If you turn a page back and look at the preamble, it does mention that India is a nation. Bharat itself is one of the oldest surviving civilizations of the world, and the term finds its origin in the Vedas, and we have a very old civilization. Even when Chanakya interacted with students in Taxila, he made it clear to them that they might belong to different janapadas but ultimately they belong to the nation that is Bharat," Verma is seen saying in the video.

 

In response, Gandhi claimed that "Rashtra is a kingdom." "No, Rashtra is the Sanskrit of (the word) nation," the officer is seen saying. "The word nation is a western concept," Gandhi is heard saying in the video.

 

 

"When I talk about nation, I don't just talk politics because we have had these experiments across the world...unless nations have a strong, social, cultural bonding, a constitution can't make a nation," Verma said. "Don't you think as a political leader your idea of India is not only flawed and incorrect but also destructive because it attempts to whitewash the history of thousand years?" the officer questioned.

 

"I don't think so," Gandhi said.

 

There are some memes shared by netizens-

 

 

 

Rahul Gandhi is on a visit to London. He recently interacted with students at Cambridge University and addressed a conclave 'India at 75'. His comments on India's foreign policy, comparing India with Sri Lanka, drawing a parallel between Ukraine and Ladakh made in the UK have invited sharp criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.